Vesey Ventures, a venture firm focused on financial services solutions, has closed its debut fund totaling $78 million. Founded by three former CEOs of AMEX Ventures, Dana Eli-Lorch, Lindsay Fitzgerald and Julia Huang, the fund will invest in early-stage fintech and enabling technology companies where opportunities for early partnerships with financial incumbents exist.
With a successful track record of investing in fintech winners such as Stripe, Plaid and Trulioo, the firm’s founding team aims to bridge the gap between startups and financial institutions to give their portfolio companies a competitive edge. The firm specializes in identifying partnerships and providing strong entry points within the financial services ecosystem to make them happen.
“Business development in the financial services industry isn’t just a nice to have, it’s a need to have, and Vesey Ventures are the kind of insightful, strategic partners you want at the table,” said Trulioo co-founder Stephen Ufford. “Founders working in banking, payments, computer networks and compliance will find the team’s expertise to be second to none. Vesey Ventures knows the decision makers, they can make connections and they have experience. They are relentless when it comes to business development and never gave up on helping Trulioo land our first major banking customer.”
Partnership started by Vesey’s founders
Vesey’s founders have established more than 100 partnerships between startups and financial institutions, and the fund combines their deep domain expertise in traditional financial services and a unique understanding of the startup ecosystem to identify, fund and scale the next generation of companies. The founders previously made early stage investments in some of the world’s most successful fintech companies, including Toast, Melio, Signifyd, iZettle, FalconX, Menlo Security, BioCatch and Codat.
“Financial incumbents still provide the critical pieces startups need to succeed – infrastructure, capital, licenses and customers – and we’ve seen firsthand how the most successful fintech companies were built in partnership with incumbents,” the founders said. “We created Vesey Ventures to give our portfolio companies a competitive edge early on by bridging the gap between the companies that need new technologies and those that build them. Partnerships can be a game-changing part of a fintech company’s growth story, and we have an unparalleled track record of deliver these for our founders.”
Daniel Simon, founder and CEO of Vesey-funded startup Coast, noted the value presented by the team given their expertise. “Collaboration with Vesey Ventures has been jet fuel for Coast,” he said. “The team immediately showed a deep understanding of my business and identified the tactics they could use to move the needle for us. They put it on paper right away and they have delivered. They had innovative, actionable business development ideas that helped shape our going -to-market strategy. They found us the right employees and advisors when we needed them.”
The fund’s investments are not only limited to the US, but Israel also serves as a critical market for a number of Vesey Ventures’ areas of focus, including early-stage fintech, enterprise software, cybersecurity and data and AI. The team has previously invested in a number of Israeli companies, including BioCatch, Melio and Next Insurance, and the fund has already invested in two Israeli-based portfolio companies. With offices in the US and Israel, Vesey Ventures is well positioned to help local startups partner, expand and commercialize in the US.
