Valiant Finance hires Joe Iavarone to drive US growth

Valiant Finance has appointed vendor finance executive Joe Iavarone as North American President (Sales & Marketing) as the Australian fintech steps up its push into the US equipment finance market.

Iavarone brings nearly 30 years of experience in vendor and commercial finance. He will lead sales and marketing in North America and report to Valiant Chief Executive and co-founder Alex Molloy, who has been based in the US since late last year.

Valiant has facilitated more than AUD $3 billion in loans through its commercial finance platform. It works with more than 90 lending partners and positions itself as a software-led provider for small and medium-sized business finance.

US market focus

Valiant's US expansion centres on equipment finance, which it estimates as a USD $1.3 trillion market. The company is targeting distribution through vendors and enterprise distributors, with finance offered within existing sales processes.

The model relies on partnerships with large suppliers and distribution groups, and Valiant says it is already working with a growing group of Fortune 500 partners. It expects Iavarone's appointment to accelerate enterprise relationship development and increase loan origination volumes.

Embedded finance has become a competitive battleground among fintechs and established lenders. As equipment prices rise, vendors and distributors are looking to introduce finance earlier in the sales cycle and offer customers structured payment options.

Molloy linked the hire to investment in US operations and Valiant's broader strategy. "As we invest further in our US operations, having Joe join Valiant is a huge endorsement of both our strategy and our momentum," he said.

"His experience, network and understanding of the ecosystem will help us move faster and think bigger. The fact that leaders like Joe want to be part of this journey reinforces that Valiant is building genuinely transformational embedded finance technology," Molloy added.

Career background

Iavarone most recently served as Head of Sales for North America at DLL, an asset finance group with a managed portfolio exceeding USD $47 billion. At DLL, he ran an origination platform described as multi-billion-dollar in scale, supporting more than 250 professionals across technology, office solutions and healthcare.

Earlier, he held global programme management roles tied to Cisco Systems Capital and Apple Financial Services. The positions involved building vendor finance programmes across multiple countries and working with lenders, manufacturers and channel partners.

Valiant plans to apply that experience in a market where lenders and vendors are emphasising automation and workflow integration. Molloy said the company is seeing demand from funders and vendors seeking improved penetration rates and lower costs.

"The US equipment finance market is substantial, and we're growing at a time when vendors and funders are actively seeking to increase penetration rates and reduce cost through automation," Molloy said. "Joe understands this market intimately-the challenges, the players, the opportunities. His network and track record scaling complex financial operations will be invaluable as we accelerate our momentum and build the future of embedded commercial finance."

The hire also signals a shift towards a more locally led go-to-market strategy in North America. Valiant has described its US platform as a white-label embedded finance offering for vendors and distributors that want finance options presented alongside purchases.

Iavarone said he sees a significant opportunity to bring an established product approach from outside the US and adapt it to local distribution and partnership structures.

"It's exciting to be part of bringing a global fintech solution to the North American market at scale," Iavarone said. "The opportunity here is substantial, and I'm committed to bringing my experience of building partnerships in order to cement Valiant as a trusted name in US commercial finance."

Molloy will continue to oversee the expansion from the US as Valiant builds its North American pipeline with large vendors and distribution partners.