Former Santander and Capital One executive Josh Baer now is president of AutoFi, according to a company announcement made on Thursday.

The digital automotive commerce platform said this key hire follows a March development when the company landed $85 million in funding to accelerate its growth.

“Bringing finance innovation to the auto ecosystem is a critical part of our strategy and differentiation,” AutoFi chief executive officer Kevin Singerman said in Thursday’s news release. “Josh’s experience in credit, lending, automotive and risk management brings deep domain and operating expertise to better serve our dealer, OEM and lender customers with industry-leading products.”

As president, AutoFi said Baer will leverage his nearly 20 years of financial services experience to lead its lender and enterprise business segments.

A seasoned change leader, his focus will be on accelerating the growth in these segments by bringing transformative retailing and financing experiences to market, enabling AutoFi partners to better address changing consumer preferences.

“AutoFi is a pioneer in the digitization of the auto industry,” Baer said. “The company is uniquely positioned with manufacturers, retailers, and lenders to deliver digital experiences that will drive the future of the market.

“The opportunity to shape such a large and complex industry is compelling and I couldn’t be more excited to join the AutoFi leadership team in delivering on this promise,” he went on to say

Prior to joining AutoFi — among the first group of Emerging 8 honorees — Baer was a member of the Santander executive team, serving most recently as head of strategy following three years as the chief risk officer.

Baer also spent nearly 13 years at Capital One in various leadership roles across the firm’s consumer businesses.