Leading LTO provider Kafene strengthens leadership team with new senior executive hires
NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2024 — Kafene, a point-of-sale leasing platform that helps retailers offer underserved customers more flexible purchase options through lease-to-own (“LTO”) agreements, today announced the appointments of Vin Thomas as General Counsel & Corporate Secretary and Tony Cerino as Senior Vice President of Partnerships.
Thomas will build and lead Kafene’s legal and compliance function, and Cerino will scale the company’s enterprise sales team as Kafene increasingly seeks to partner with America’s best-known retailers.
Thomas is an industry veteran who has served as a general counsel for a mix of public and private companies in the financial services sector for more than 15 years. He most recently worked at Troutman Pepper, a national law firm with more than 23 offices across the U.S., focusing his practice on providing fractional general counsel services to private and public companies across the financial services and other sectors. Before Troutman, Thomas was the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for PROG Group Holdings, a large lease-to-own provider. He previously was Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary for CURO Financial Technologies, a multinational consumer finance company for whom Thomas led a department of approximately 45 employees and helped take public in 2017. Thomas previously was General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for TitleMax, one of the largest retail consumer lenders in the Southeast. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Georgia and a Juris Doctor from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law.
Cerino brings more than 25 years of specialized sales and business development experience to Kafene, where he is already responsible for signing partnerships with Furniture Marketing Group and Versatile Credit. Cerino most recently served as the Head of Sales for Tandym, a financial technology company transforming the private label credit card industry. He was previously Vice President of Business Development for Jifiti, a financing company enabling banks and lenders to seamlessly reach customers at the point-of-sale in-store and online. Before that, Cerino spent five years as Vice President of Sales for Katapult, a leader in the lease-to-own financing space, where he was part of the executive team that took the company public in 2021 and supported notable merchants including Wayfair and Lenovo. Cerino has additionally held senior sales roles regionally and nationally for well-known brands such as Guardsman (now part of Sherwin-Williams), Mattress Warehouse, Broad River Retail (an Ashley Furniture Licensee), and Raymour & Flanigan.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tony and Vin to the Kafene team,” said Neal Desai, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kafene. “Their collective vision and expertise will be invaluable assets as we continue to strengthen our internal operations and expand our presence in stores across the country.”
“Vin’s experience as a veteran fintech general counsel and Tony’s proven track record in business development for the financing space are exactly what we need for the next leg of our journey. Their addition to the leadership team underscores the firm’s commitment to fostering excellence and driving innovation in every facet of our operations. With their guidance, we are confident in our ability to drive sustainable growth for years to come. It’s an exciting time at Kafene.”
In late-2023, Kafene finalized its Series B venture funding round at $31 million in equity financing led by Third Prime alongside existing investors, and it announced a $15 million venture debt facility with Trinity Capital in January 2024.
For more information on Kafene please visit www.kafene.com.
About Kafene
Kafene is a leading point-of-sale leasing partner dedicated to empowering flexible ownership solutions for underserved customers nationwide. By enabling our retail partners to offer flexible LTO purchase options for prime and nonprime consumers, Kafene helps merchants grow their customer base, and meet growing demand for furniture, appliances, electronics, tires and other durable goods. Utilizing cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies, our platform creates a best-in-class experience for both merchants and customers. Kafene has generated more than $150 million in incremental sales for its retailer partners in less than four years since launch. To learn more about Kafene please visit www.kafene.com, and to learn more about Kafene’s commitment to customer experience and consumer protection, please visit here: https://kafene.com/consumer-friendly-commitments.
Contacts
For Kafene:
Roger Sauerhaft
[email protected]
SOURCE Kafene
