Irv Cohen

 

Irv Cohen has spent a career at the intersection of global finance, entrepreneurship, and civic leadership — building world-class organizations, developing transformative talent, and investing in the ideas and people that shape the future.

As President of J.P. Morgan Treasury Technologies Corporation, Cohen led the firm's payments businesses to a sweep of top global rankings: number one cash management advisor, number one in U.S. Dollar clearing across the United States, Asia, and Western Europe, and number one in Clearing House Interbank Payment System (CHIPS). His leadership didn't stop at performance metrics — when JP Morgan relocated its Treasury Services operations from New York to Tampa, Cohen built a team from the ground up, attracting top financial, technical, and multilingual talent to the region and creating more than 2,000 jobs. The operation became the area's recognized employer of choice. Prior to JP Morgan, Cohen served as Chief Financial Officer at Lehman Brothers and Chief Operating Officer at Barclays Bank.

A sought-after voice in global finance, Cohen is a recognized speaker on treasury and cash management with keynote appearances at Sibos and the Association of Financial Planners, among others.

Beyond the balance sheet, Cohen is a committed entrepreneur and investor. He is a founding partner of Seedfunders alongside partner Dave Chitester, providing funding and mentorship to pre-revenue technology concepts and early-stage companies, and led the Seedfunders Opportunity Fund, a committed capital fund making pre-seed investments in Black-owned startups across Florida. He is also a founding partner of The St. Petersburg Group. Cohen founded the CodeBoxx Foundation and served as CEO of CodeBoxx, a St. Petersburg-based technology school dedicated to expanding access to career pathways based on potential rather than privilege, with an intentional focus on diversity and inclusion.

As a philanthropist, Cohen brings the same rigor and engagement to the nonprofit sector that he brings to business — holding executive committee positions and actively driving the organizations he supports. He has mentored early-stage companies through USF's incubator program and served in leadership roles across a wide range of civic institutions throughout Tampa Bay.

Cohen holds a post-graduate degree in Finance from New York University and an MBA from Pace University. He is a Chartered Global Management Accountant, Certified Public Accountant, and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Association for Financial Professionals.

Current Board Affiliations: CodeBoxx Foundation · St. Petersburg Foundation · Waterfront Parks Foundation · St. Petersburg College Foundation Seedfunders

Former Board Affiliations: Florida Holocaust Museum · Seedfunders Opportunity Fund · St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership · Social Venture Partners Tampa Bay (Board Chair) · Social Venture Partners International · Big Brothers Big Sisters Tampa Bay · Pinellas County Urban League · American Heart Association

Innovation & Collaboration

Investing for the long term means investing in sustainability. 

What we do:

  • Venture development. We will work with selected entrepreneurs to qualify and provide their first professional investment

  • Investments criteria will be set by the fund and communicated to all partners. Incubators etc.

  • Fund will then provide, after investment, support necessary to qualify them for next round etc. including business planning, business development, development and training of the management team, board recruitment, mentoring and networking and subsequent introductions to next round of capital

Why Venture Capital is a Proven Growth Tool

  • Builds companies that scale

  • Successful venture capital companies grow their employment base in significant ways

  • Potent job creation impact, high-quality jobs with livable wages, stock option programs, and quality benefit packages

  • Raises the profile of region on the Venture Capital market

  • Pipeline to additional capital

  • Human resource draw to the Region

  • Innovative job creation