Their thesis includes the idea that there’s value in boring software — “the backend technology that sells to banks that nobody talks about,” said founding partner Lindsay Fitzgerald. “We love boring.”
Vesey also invests in companies that make products for both consumers and businesses. One of the first investments is in Coast, a New York City-headquartered company that helps fleet managers manage expenses. Vesey has made a total of five investments so far, writing checks in the $1.5 to $3 million range.
At Amex, Fitzgerald and her co-founding partners Dana Eli-Lorch and Julia Huang made early-stage investments in some of the world’s leading fintech firms, including Stripe, Plaid and Toast. They offer companies that join their portfolio a specific set of recommendations they call a “strategy sheet.” Each sheet will describe how the firm will utilize its network and expertise to drive the portfolio company’s business development.
The trio believe that the connection to New York City will also benefit the companies in which they invest.
“We are connected in the space with the incumbents who want to innovate,” Huang explained, referring to the big banks and finance companies that are always in need of new technological solutions for problems ranging from compliance to data storage. Vesey plans to connect startups to these companies. “We speak corporate better than anyone,” she said.
“Being in New York is one [competitive advantage] for our fund,” Fitzgerald added. “That’s where all the financial companies that matter are.” Eli-Lorch, on the other hand, is based in Tel Aviv, another hotbed of fintech innovation. The company plans to help Israeli portfolio companies commercialize its products in the United States
Although there are more women than ever in venture capital, men still dominate check writing. Still, having a woman at the general partner level at a venture capital firm increases the number of female founders making deals, according to a report by technology research firm Pitchbook. However, nationally, only 16% of VC decision makers are women, and 95.5% of US venture capital firms have male majority populations and decision makers. In New York, women-owned companies accounted for just 19.7% of total deal value in 2022.
“If we can move that statistic in the right direction – that’s a big factor in our motivation,” Huang said, adding that the partners are looking to invest in the best companies, regardless of the gender of the founders.
