Raj Parekh

Raj Parekh has a diverse work experience spanning various roles and industries. Raj is currently the Co-founder and CEO of Portal, a position they have held since January 2022. Prior to this, Raj worked as an Adjunct Professor at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) starting from January 2021.

Raj's most significant experience was at Visa, where they worked from June 2015 to December 2021. During their tenure, they held multiple roles, including Director of Global Crypto Product. In this role, they were part of the founding team that launched Visa crypto as a service APIs for fintechs and FIs. Additionally, Raj managed Visa's security and fraud platform, leading the full long-term architecture and redesigning over 120 UI pages. Raj also expanded the product into Europe, which sparked their passion for cryptocurrencies and led him to purchase their first Bitcoin in 2015.

Before Visa, Raj gained experience as a Product Marketing Intern at MINDBODY, Inc. from September 2014 to April 2015. Raj also had a brief stint as a Strategy and Product Management Intern at ADP from July 2013 to September 2013.

Overall, Raj has a strong background in product management and marketing, with a focus on security, fraud risk mitigation, and crypto products.

Raj Parekh holds a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. Additionally, they have pursued further education in the field of Real Estate through Fortune Builder and obtained a certification as a Real Estate Broker/Sales Agent from the California Department of Real Estate. Raj has also expanded their skillset in Data Science by completing a course at General Assembly and participated in the Growth Series program at Reforge. In terms of certifications, they hold a Scrum Fundamentals Certified accreditation from SCRUMstudy, a CISSP associate certification from (ISC)².