Profiles · Principals
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Executive
- Programs
- PPP
- Updated
Identity and role
Matt Doka co-founded FiveStars in 2011 and served as its chief technology officer. He signed the March 24, 2020 letter to Congress as a FiveStars representative. He was the technical half of a two-person founding team, responsible for the engineering behind the company's loyalty and, later, payments products.
Biography
Doka co-founded FiveStars with Victor Ho after the two met at McKinsey & Company, building it out of Y Combinator (acquisition coverage); his education and earlier career are cited to secondary profiles; we do not have copies. FiveStars had raised about $145.5 million before its sale (Lightspeed profile).
Pandemic relief role
Doka signed the coalition letter, which asked Treasury to direct "upwards of $500 billion" to small businesses through non-bank lenders and stated, "We seek no gain from this crisis." FiveStars originated no loans. The company's pandemic-era merchant credits and free tools are cited to its own communications; we do not have copies.
The SBA's loan-level PPP FOIA file (cited; the row is not reproduced here) lists FIVE STARS LOYALTY, INC. in San Francisco with a $4,628,540 PPP loan approved on April 14, 2020 by Western Alliance Bank, later forgiven. Doka was FiveStars' technical co-founder and CTO.
Legal status / government-program record
No personal enforcement action, civil settlement, debarment, or criminal charge involving Doka was identified. FiveStars was a merchant software and payments company that received PPP borrower support; it was not a PPP lender, agent, or government-relief processor.
Where they are now (2025–2026)
SumUp acquired FiveStars in October 2021 for $317 million (SumUp releases, TechCrunch and Payments Dive); Doka became chief technology officer of SumUp North America . His later investing roles are cited to LinkedIn (self-reported).
Sources held in this archive
Original source documents and archived captures
- SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data,
public_150k_plus_240930.csv - FiveStars company profile Lightspeed Venture Partners
- European point-of-sale provider SumUp acquires FiveStars for $317M TechCrunch, Oct 13, 2021
- OnDeck letter to Congress Mar 24, 2020 (archived text)
- SumUp spearheads US growth with $317M FiveStars acquisition Payments Dive, Oct 2021
- SumUp completes acquisition of Fivestars
- SumUp acquires FiveStars for $317 million SumUp press, Oct 14, 2021
Sources
- SumUp acquires FiveStars for $317 million (SumUp press, Oct 14, 2021): SumUp acquires FiveStars for $317 million SumUp press, Oct 14, 2021 (original: sumup.com · stored capture)
- SumUp completes acquisition of Fivestars: SumUp completes acquisition of Fivestars (original: sumup.com · stored capture)
- European point-of-sale provider SumUp acquires FiveStars for $317M (TechCrunch, Oct 13, 2021): European point-of-sale provider SumUp acquires FiveStars for $317M TechCrunch, Oct 13, 2021 (original: techcrunch.com · stored capture)
- SumUp spearheads US growth with $317M FiveStars acquisition (Payments Dive, Oct 2021): SumUp spearheads US growth with $317M FiveStars acquisition Payments Dive, Oct 2021 (original: paymentsdive.com · stored capture)
- FiveStars company profile (Lightspeed Venture Partners): FiveStars company profile Lightspeed Venture Partners (original: lsvp.com · stored capture)
- OnDeck letter to Congress (Mar 24, 2020): OnDeck letter to Congress Mar. 24, 2020 (original: ondeck.com) our copy of the letter
- SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data,
public_150k_plus_240930.csv: SBA PPP FOIA loan-level data, public_150k_plus_240930.csv (original: data.sba.gov · stored capture) (link now dead; copy taken from the Internet Archive, 5 March 2025) — our copy: SBA PPP FOIA loan-level files (loan 7416037107) - LinkedIn, Matt Doka profile (self-reported): LinkedIn, Jon Coss (original: linkedin.com)