James Mahan – Startup Investor Profile

Mr. James Mahan is the Founder & serves as Board Member at nCino. He is the Founder and serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman at Live Oak Bancshares. He also serves as Managing Partner at Canapi Ventures. He is a Co-Founder of nCino. He serves as a Board Member at Savana, Apiture, Plexus Capital. He is an active financial and technology entrepreneur, having served as CEO of S1 Corporation and founder of Security First Network Bank, one of the first internet-only banks. He is highly regarded as a financial visionary and lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. He formed an investment group that purchased Citizens Union and subsequently sold it to BankOne Corp. of Columbus, OH. He began his career in 1973 at Wachovia Bank & Trust Co. in Winston-Salem, NC, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA. He also serves as Managing Director at Canapi.

Location: Wilmington, NC

Country: United States of America

Investment Regions:

Investment Stages: pre-seed, seed

Website:

AI Reasoning: Canapi Ventures (where James Mahan/Chip Mahan is Managing Partner) shows ongoing investment activity with fund announcements and portfolio additions within the past year, including Canapi Fund II activity and commitments reported in SEC filings and firm press releases. Canapi announced a $750M Fund II in December 2023 and the firm’s disclosures show commitments and investments continuing into 2024 and 2025 (SEC filing referencing a commitment to invest in Canapi Ventures Fund II as of Dec 31, 2024). Additionally, Canapi’s portfolio and team pages list active investing roles. The most recent evidence shows investments or fund activity within the last 6 months, including references in 2025 SEC filings and Tracxn portfolio updates as of Oct 2025 indicating continued investments. For example, an SEC filing (lob-20250402) notes commitments to invest in Canapi Ventures Fund II and Canapi’s own insights page and press coverage document ongoing investment activity. Therefore, the investor’s most recent known investment is within the last 6 months (e.g., investments via Canapi into fintech startups), classifying him as very-active.

Low Activity – Only known angel investments more than 12 months ago.

Active – Known angel investments between the last 12 and 6 months.

Very Active – Known angel investments in the last 6 months.