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Rob Frohwein personal site

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Overview

Rob Frohwein is an entrepreneur, inventor, and intellectual property strategist. He co-founded Kabbage, a financial technology company that provided automated working capital solutions to small businesses. Kabbage was acquired by American Express in 2020, where Frohwein subsequently served as Senior Vice President.

Frohwein is the listed inventor on 25 United States patents and the co-author of three books on intellectual property published by Penguin/Putnam. He founded LAVA Group, one of the world's first intellectual property investment banks, which facilitated over $100 million in IP transactions and provided strategic IP advisory services to hundreds of clients. He has been recognized four times by Intellectual Asset Magazine as one of the top IP strategists globally.

Earlier in his career, Frohwein established and led several businesses, including U.S. Micro Corporation (acquired by Arrow Electronics, NYSE: ARW) and Surgical Biologics (merged with MiMedX Group, NASDAQ: MDXG). He served in business development and legal roles at Security First Network Bank, the world's first internet bank, and at ZapMedia. He began his career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and practiced corporate and intellectual property law at Troutman Sanders LLP.

Robert Frohwein holds a J.D. from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, served as Associate Editor of the Villanova Law Review, and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Dickinson College, Cum Laude.

Kabbage

In 2008, Frohwein recognized that companies like eBay were offering automated access to small business transaction data via APIs. He co-founded Kabbage in Atlanta, Georgia, along with Kathryn Petralia and Marc Gorlin, to leverage real-time data automation for small business lending.

Kabbage developed a fully automated, data-driven platform that handled origination, underwriting, and business monitoring. The company served approximately 500,000 small businesses and originated over $16 billion in working capital. Kabbage raised over $400 million in equity from investors including SoftBank, Thomvest Ventures, and Reverence Capital Partners, reaching a $1.2 billion valuation in 2017.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kabbage became the second-largest Paycheck Protection Program lender, approving approximately 300,000 PPP applications totaling more than $7 billion. American Express acquired Kabbage's team, technology, and intellectual property in October 2020. Frohwein served as Co-Founder, CEO, and Board Chair from 2008 through 2021, and as Senior Vice President at American Express during the post-acquisition integration.

Intellectual Property & Patents

Frohwein is the listed inventor on 25 U.S. patents spanning automated lending, data-driven underwriting, dynamic payment systems, machine learning classification, optical recognition for transaction verification, and conferencing technology. Selected issued patents:

Apparatus to Provide Funds in the Online Auction EnvironmentUS 12,106,362 · Oct 2024

Dynamic payments in an open networkUS 12,100,043 · Sep 2024

Apparatus to Provide Liquid Funds in the Online Auction EnvironmentUS 11,983,767 · May 2024

System to Automatically CategorizeUS 11,900,475 · Feb 2024

Enabling an Instantaneous InstrumentUS 11,861,592 · Jan 2024

Distributed system to enable dynamic, on-demand sales forceUS 11,574,330 · Feb 2023

System to Automatically CategorizeUS 11,250,517 · Feb 2022

Optical recognition to detect transaction inconsistencyUS 10,769,637 · Sep 2020

Operate different widgets from a single widget controllerUS 10,712,894 · Jul 2020

Liquid funds in the online auction and marketplace environmentUS 10,592,975 · Mar 2020

Evaluate and provide funds in online environmentsUS 10,540,713 (Jan 2020) · US 10,430,873 (Oct 2019) · US 10,255,632 (Apr 2019)

Operate different widgets from a single widget controllerUS 9,720,554 · Aug 2017

Customizing participant information in an online conferenceUS 9,485,284 · Nov 2016

Location-aware conferencing with graphical representationsUS 9,419,810 · Aug 2016

Selectively reviewing a recorded conferenceUS 9,112,980 · Aug 2015

Record and playback in a conferenceUS 9,106,794 · Aug 2015

Liquid funds in the online auction and marketplace environmentUS 8,073,744 (Dec 2011) · US 7,983,951 (Jul 2011)

Financial instruments to customers of a service providerUS 7,600,675 · Oct 2009

Full portfolio: Justia Patents · Google Scholar

Publications

The Pocket Idiot's Guide to PatentsPenguin/Putnam · October 2004

The Pocket Idiot's Guide to TrademarksPenguin/Putnam · October 2004

The Pocket Idiot's Guide to CopyrightsPenguin/Putnam · October 2004

Ventures & Career

Following the Kabbage acquisition, Frohwein co-founded Keep Financial Technologies, a compensation platform enabling employers to leverage Vesting Cash Plans for recruiting and retention. Keep was backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Thomvest Ventures, and others, and was sold to Apprenta (Washington, DC) in 2025.

Frohwein founded LAVA Group, Inc. (2001–2011), one of the world's first intellectual property investment banks. LAVA Group assisted companies in buying, selling, and licensing intellectual property and provided strategic IP advisory services, facilitating over $100 million in IP transactions.

Earlier ventures include Surgical Biologics LLC (founding board member; merged with MiMedX Group, which grew from a $70 million market value to over $1 billion), TransMend I2, Inc. (Chairman; SaaS company focused on internet intelligence, sold in 2008), U.S. Micro Corporation (acquired by Arrow Electronics, NYSE: ARW), and The Vera Company (board member; sold in 2013).

Frohwein also founded Smith Risley Tempel Santos LLC (formerly Sentry Law Group), a firm focused on IP prosecution, litigation, and technology transactions. He began his career as a Staff Consultant at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), practiced corporate and intellectual property law at Troutman Sanders LLP, and served as VP of Business Development and General Counsel at Security First Network Bank, the world's first internet bank.

Strategic Advisory & Investment

Since 2011, Frohwein has served as a strategic advisor and investor to technology companies including Oscilar, SentiLink, GroundNews, PayStand, Giotto.ai, SOLO, PayStandards, SoBanHang, and StimLabs.

Recognition

Personal

Glassdoor Top 50 CEO (2019)

IAM Top 250/300 IP Strategists in the World (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)

100 Most Influential Fintech Leaders (Hot Topics, 2016)

OWI Identity Innovators (2018)

Atlanta Business Chronicle 40 Under 40 (2004)

Catalyst Magazine Catalyst of the Week (2003)

Lifetime Donor Pass, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

Company Awards (Kabbage, as CEO)

CNBC Disruptor 50 (2016 #35, 2019 #14, 2020 #24)

Forbes Fintech 50 (2016, 2018, 2019); Forbes Top 100 Most Promising Companies (2015, two-time winner)

KPMG FinTech 100 Leading Global Innovators (2016, 2017, 2018 #30)

CB Insights FinTech 250 (2017, 2018)

Deloitte Technology Fast500 (2017 #121, 2018 #209)

Inc. 500/5000 Fastest Growing Companies (2015 #36, 2016 #183, 2017 #449)

Fortune 100 Best Medium Workplaces #21 (2018)

Inc. Best Places to Work (2018, 2019); Inc. Private Titans (2018)

Entrepreneur Magazine Top Company Cultures #11 (2018); Entrepreneur 360 List (2017)

Glassdoor Best Places to Work (2017)

Fast Company Top 10 Most Innovative Finance Company (2013)

Frost & Sullivan Best Lending Platform (2019); Visionary Innovation Leadership Award (2017)

Juniper Research Best Lending Platform (2018)

Atlanta Magazine Groundbreakers Award (2018)

PYMNTS.com Best B2B Innovation (2013); Most Innovative Company in Finance (2012)

Red Herring Top 100 Private Company in North America (2012)

Bank Technology News Top Ten Innovator of the Year (2012)

VentureBeat Cloudbeat Showdown Winner (2012)

ACG Georgia Fast 40 Award (2014 #1, 2015 #8, 2016 #2)

Technology Association of Georgia SSA Impact Award (2016)

Media & Interviews

Broadcast

Kabbage CEO: SoftBank wants to support our visionCNBC

How this AI-powered money lender is changing small businessCNBC Television · 2019

Why SoftBank Is Investing $250 Million in KabbageBloomberg News · 2017

CNN NewsroomCNN

Conference Talks

The Future of Lending?Web Summit · 2015

In Conversation with Rob FrohweinFinovateSpring · 2022

Kabbage DemoFinovateSpring · 2015

Alternative Lending is Dead, Long Live DataLendIt / Fintech Nexus · 2017

How to Cultivate Your Fintech CultureShift Money · 2019

Crafting a Partnership That WorksVenture Conf · 2018

The Kabbage Story: Big Bets, Big OutcomesFintech South / TAG · 2021

AI: Behind the ScenesWeb Summit · 2018

Acquisition Coverage

American Express acquiring small business lender KabbageCNBC

Amex acquires SoftBank-backed KabbageTechCrunch

American Express to Acquire KabbageBusinessWire

Deal of the Year: AmEx buys KabbageBanking Dive

Rob Frohwein — Executive ProfileBloomberg

Interviews & Podcasts

This Week in Startups, Episode 911 (Jason Calacanis)TWiST

On Selling His Last Company For $850 MillionThe DealMakers Show

Small Business LendingAlliance for Innovative Regulation

The Tao of Rob Frohwein11:FS

Securing a Small Business Line of CreditInspired Insider

Q&A: Kabbage CEO, Originating $2B in LoansCrowdfund Insider

Fireside Chat: Kabbage & Fintech InnovationeChai Ventures

Business & Culture

Culture Is Not About Providing a Company KegInc. Magazine

CEO Exclusive InterviewBusiness RadioX

Interview at LendIt 2019SME Finance Forum

Speaker ProfileHarvard Business School Club of Atlanta

Profiles

LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/frohwein

Crunchbasecrunchbase.com

Bloombergbloomberg.com

Patent Portfolio (Justia)patents.justia.com

Articles by Rob FrohweinEntrepreneur.com

X (Twitter)@RobFrohwein

eChai Ventures Speaker Profileechai.ventures

Robert Frohwein BiographyBanco Santander

Mediummedium.com/@robfrohwein

Substackrobfrohwein.substack.com

For inquiries, connect via LinkedIn.

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