Charles Hearn (entrepreneur)
Charles Hearn is an American software engineer, entrepreneur, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) of the financial technology company Alloy, a financial technology company that provides an identity decisioning and risk management platform for financial institutions and fintech firms.[1][2][3]
Early life and education
Charles Hearn attended high school at the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies. He later graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in computer science.[4][5]
Career
Hearn began his career in software development and technical research. Between 2011 and 2013, he served as the mobile lead and general developer for the start-up company: The City Swig. During this period, he also conducted independent research at the University of Virginia, focusing on the exploitation of GSM authentication protocols.[6][7]
In August 2013, Hearn joined Microsoft as a program manager for the Bing Index and Knowledge team. In 2014, he moved into the fintech sector, serving as the lead product engineer at Knox Payments.[8]
in February 2015, Charles Hearn along with Laura Spiekerman and Tommy Nicholas founded Alloy, a financial technology company that provides an identity decisioning and fraud prevention platform for banks, credit unions and fintech companies. Hearn serves as its chief technology officer (CTO).[9]
In 2021, Hearn was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Enterprise Technology category.[10] Under Hearn’s technical leadership, Alloy achieved unicorn status following a $100 million Series C funding round that valued the company at $1.35 billion. In September 2022, the company announced a Series C extension, bringing its valuation to $1.55 billion.[11] The funding supported Alloy’s continued product expansion and international growth.[12][13][14] As of late 2022, the company was valued at $1.55 billion.[15][16]
References
- ↑ "Charles Hearn - Cofounder And CTO at Alloy". THE ORG. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Apinis, Ingmar (2024-03-07). "Staying ahead of the scam: Knowledge-based authentication techniques to fight fraudsters". United States - English. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Prog.AI. "Charles Hearn - Chief Technology Officer at Alloy". Prog.AI. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ "Great Works in Computer Science". www.cs.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Newman, Caroline (2020-12-02). "Meet 11 UVA Alumni on the New Forbes '30 Under 30' Lists". archive.news.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ "Who is the CTO of Alloy? Charles Hearn's Bio | Clay". www.clay.com. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ "Charles Hearn". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ "Get the job you really want - Zippia". www.zippia.com. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Investclub, Silicon Valley (2022-09-02). "Alloy Raises $52 Million at a $1.55 Billion Valuation | Silicon Valley Investclub". siliconvalleyinvestclub.com. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ "Forbes 30 Under 30 2021: Big Money Startups". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Investclub, Silicon Valley (2022-09-02). "Alloy Raises $52 Million at a $1.55 Billion Valuation | Silicon Valley Investclub". siliconvalleyinvestclub.com. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Penn, David (2021-09-30). "Alloy Earns $1.35 Billion Valuation After Securing Series C Investment". Finovate. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (2021-09-30). "Alloy raises $100M at a $1.35B valuation to help banks and fintechs fight fraud with its API-based platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ "Alloy's global identity decisioning platform, built on AWS | AWS Startups". aws.amazon.com. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Simister, George (2023-02-09). "US fintech unicorn Alloy launches in UK". UKTN. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
- ↑ Investclub, Silicon Valley (2022-09-02). "Alloy Raises $52 Million at a $1.55 Billion Valuation | Silicon Valley Investclub". siliconvalleyinvestclub.com. Retrieved 2026-03-23.