IL Tech in NY
“Israeli entrepreneurs possess a unique cultural DNA—directness, boldness, and relentless hustle”
Vesey Ventures joined CTech for its IL Tech in NY series in collaboration with Israeli Mapped in NY.
“Israeli entrepreneurs possess a unique cultural DNA—directness, boldness, and relentless hustle,” says Vesey Ventures. “They think outside the box, challenge norms, embrace risk, and move fast with a ‘get-it-done’ attitude driven by an innate optimism. We’ve also witnessed the unparalleled resilience of Israeli founders during the war in Israel.”
Vesey Ventures invests in companies that will transform financial services in the U.S. and Israel. It was founded in 2022 with offices in Tel Aviv and the Big Apple.
“[Israelis] tend to be highly technical and innovative, often drawing on deep expertise shaped by elite military units and reinforced by a well-developed tech ecosystem,” the firm continued. “However, they may have less initial commercial experience and are geographically distant from their target markets, requiring a learning curve when scaling globally. Despite this, their adaptability, tenacity, and ability to iterate rapidly enable them to scale quickly and compete.”
You can read the entire interview below.
Fund ID
Name and type of VC: Vesey Ventures invests in companies that will transform financial services – fintech & “tech-for-fin” – in the U.S. and Israel. The Vesey team used to run American Express Ventures, where we invested in 50+ companies including 18 unicorns such as Stripe, Plaid, Melio, Trulioo, and BioCatch, and drove 100+ strategic partnerships. Our experience, supercharged by our network of strategic LPs – banks, insurance, and payment companies, execs from the industry and founders – gives our portfolio companies an unbeatable edge in financial services. We consider ourselves our founders’ first business development team.
Main fields of investment: Fintech, cyber, AI, enterprise tech, and commerce. We look for companies that can partner with or sell to financial services; we invest exclusively in companies where we can add meaningful value through our network.
Names of managing partners: Dana Eli-Lorch, Lindsay Fitzgerald, Julia Huang.
Partners and/or other backers: We're backed by leading financial institutions, fintech, enterprise tech & cybersecurity founders, and financial services execs. We also have a network of 250+ advisors including C-level and experts in banking, lending, payments, credit & risk, compliance, infosec, and more.
Year of founding/start of NY operations: Vesey Ventures was founded in 2022, with offices in New York City and Tel Aviv.
Total sum of investments/size, number of funds: One fund, $80M AUM.
Median investment amount/Average investment in startups: $2M-$3M initial check, in Seed and Series A.
Number/size of rounds led: We’ve invested in 18 companies so far, half in the U.S. and half in Israel.
General background on the organization, its managers, its founders and partners:
The co-founders of Vesey, Dana, Lindsay, and Julia, met over 10 years ago on Vesey Street at American Express Ventures and have been investing together ever since. At AmEx, one of the first and largest financial technology companies in history, we built a leading fintech corporate venture fund and developed complementary areas of expertise — consumer fintech & commerce (Julia), B2B fintech (Lindsay), and enterprise tech & fintech infrastructure (Dana). We invested in category-defining startups and engineered more than 100 partnerships between startups and financial services institutions.
Working between “incumbents” and “startups”, we’ve seen firsthand how partnerships with incumbents can accelerate product development, drive product-market fit, and enable efficient customer adoption. Likewise, financial incumbents need access to new technologies to stay competitive.
We saw an opportunity to build a new type of venture firm that combines our experience as industry insiders and early-stage investors to bridge the gap between the companies in need of new technologies and those building them.
The VC vision:
Vesey Ventures was founded on the belief that the future of finance will be built through collaboration between startups and incumbents. While financial incumbents still control the infrastructure, capital, licenses, and customers, startups drive the innovation that transforms the industry. Leveraging our expertise in both traditional financial services and the startup ecosystem, we bridge these two worlds. Our vision is to empower the next generation of category-defining fintech and “tech-for-fin” (cyber, enterprise tech, AI) companies, helping them scale while enabling financial incumbents to innovate and evolve.
We focus on opportunities where we have a unique ability to underwrite, leveraging our network to get honest customer feedback, assess technology fit within financial institutions and corporates, and benchmark progress against our previous 75+ fintech investments. When we commit, we are all in—100%.
Founders experience our “First Business Development Team” hands-on approach as we help them scale, commercialize, and integrate into the U.S. financial system, leveraging our deep industry expertise, networks, and strategic partners. Alongside the term sheet, we provide a Vesey Strategy Sheet—a tailored roadmap outlining how we’ll actively support them post-investment, connecting them with the right customers, partners, and domain experts, to help them accelerate success.
What types of Israeli startups/entrepreneurs are you interested in?
We believe Israel has an outsized contribution to fintech, cybersecurity, enterprise tech & AI. The country’s deep talent pool and strong entrepreneurial culture have consistently fueled groundbreaking innovation and shaped category-defining companies.
We invest in startups targeting the U.S. market, actively supporting them in bridging their talent and technology to the U.S.—helping them forge partnerships, expand, and drive commercialization, as well as connecting them with domain experts.
We’ve had a close-up view of Israel’s emergence as a fintech powerhouse, partnering early with companies that have grown into some of Israel’s most significant fintech successes, including Melio, BioCatch, Next Insurance, Candex, and Voca.ai. Today, the Israeli fintech ecosystem has matured, with a new wave of second- and third-time founders, as well as ex-fintech executives launching their own ventures. This institutional knowledge, actively shared within a highly collaborative ecosystem, combined with the presence of global financial services players such as Citi, PayPal, MasterCard and Intuit, continues to propel the industry forward.
This aligns well with our approach, as we seek strong, high-caliber teams with founder-market fit and deep domain expertise to build the next generation of fintech & “tech-for-fin" leaders.
Why invest in an Israeli company in New York? What advantages do such companies have? How is the New York market different from the Israeli market?
In fintech, there is no city like New York; it’s the financial capital of the world. Vesey Ventures has a presence in both New York and Tel Aviv, allowing us to work closely with our founders while staying deeply connected to the U.S. financial services industry and our strategic LPs. Many Israeli CEOs relocate to New York to be near their buyers, partners, (and competitors!), giving them a significant go-to-market advantage.
Establishing a GTM presence in New York City enables founders to “live the market”, build stronger relationships with key decision-makers, accelerate sales cycles, and gain direct insights into their customer needs. Being in the heart of the global financial hub also increases exposure to potential corporate partnerships, industry talent, and investors. Unlike Israel, where startups often focus on R&D and product innovation, New York offers direct access to large enterprise buyers and financial institutions, making it a prime location for Israeli companies looking to expand globally.
How do Israeli entrepreneurs/startups differ from their local counterparts?
Israeli entrepreneurs possess a unique cultural DNA—directness, boldness, and relentless hustle. They think outside the box, challenge norms, embrace risk, and move fast with a “get-it-done” attitude driven by an innate optimism. We’ve also witnessed the unparalleled resilience of Israeli founders during the war in Israel.
They tend to be highly technical and innovative, often drawing on deep expertise shaped by elite military units and reinforced by a well-developed tech ecosystem. However, they may have less initial commercial experience and are geographically distant from their target markets, requiring a learning curve when scaling globally. Despite this, their adaptability, tenacity, and ability to iterate rapidly enable them to scale quickly and compete.
How do you assess the risk involved in investing in Israeli companies in the current situation?
Risk is inherent in any investment, and we carefully assess risks and potential mitigation with every opportunity we evaluate. While Israel’s geopolitical situation is a factor, its talent, resilience, and innovation present a far greater opportunity. Despite the challenges posed by the ongoing conflict, the Israeli tech ecosystem remains strong, with founders swiftly adapting and demonstrating unwavering grit.
Israeli entrepreneurs turn adversity into opportunity, consistently proving that crisis fuels innovation. We are confident that Israel will emerge stronger and more innovative than ever.
We are long on Israeli talent—believing in founders’ ingenuity and relentless drive to build industry-leading companies, regardless of the challenges they face.
Are there any legal or regulatory considerations that you take into account when investing in Israel? How do you deal with possible law/regulation changes in Israel?
We are a U.S. fund with a presence in Tel Aviv. Having boots on the ground gives us a clear advantage in navigating Israel’s legal and regulatory landscape. With years of experience investing in Israel, we are well-versed in the country’s legal frameworks and business environment. Additionally, we work closely with top-tier legal and accounting firms to stay informed of any regulatory changes, ensuring that our fund and portfolio companies remain compliant and well-positioned for success.
Are there global trends that influence your decisions to invest in Israeli high-tech?
At Vesey, we focus on companies that are redefining financial services for the better. As thematic investors, we partner with companies across six categories: payments & financial infrastructure, cybersecurity & enterprise tech, fraud, risk & compliance, CFO tech, wealthtech, and commerce enablement —all of which are being transformed by AI.
In today’s landscape, Israel is impossible to ignore when investing in these categories. Cyber, fintech, and now GenAI are dominating the Israeli startup ecosystem. We view Israel as an “extension” of the U.S. market, as Israeli startups predominantly focus on the U.S.
Our dual presence in the U.S. and Israel gives us a unique advantage—allowing us to see the full picture within each category. We go beyond a local Israeli perspective, bringing firsthand knowledge of the U.S. competitive landscape and market dynamics to help our portfolio companies scale successfully.
We are in the midst of the AI revolution. Do Israeli companies have an advantage in this sector, or is there actually room for improvements?
Israel is poised to be a key player in the AI era, particularly in the application layer, where its technical talent combined with strong vertical expertise provides a competitive edge. With a proven track record in fintech, cybersecurity and enterprise capabilities, Israeli startups are strategically placed to develop cutting-edge vertical AI agents and domain-specific AI solutions. At the same time, we expect continued innovation in AI infrastructure & middleware, further solidifying Israel’s role in the global AI ecosystem.
These advancements are driven by world-class engineering & AI talent, the transfer of expertise from the military to commercial sectors, strong academia, and the presence of global tech leaders with AI research and R&D centers in Israel, such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple and Meta. Additionally, Israeli founders’ agility and resourcefulness give them an edge, allowing them to ride the AI wave with strong momentum.
Two suggestions for Israeli entrepreneurs on what to do in New York:
- Build relationships with NY founders; expand your peer circle, learn from their experiences, and tap into their networks.
- Banks, banks, banks. Reach out early so you can be sure to get on busy calendars.
Two suggestions for Israeli entrepreneurs on what not to do in New York:
- Don't assume your audience is familiar with your military unit, training, or experience at a specific Israeli company. Provide context by framing it within a familiar U.S. equivalent or clearly outlining its significance to make it more accessible and relatable.
- In New York, don’t walk slowly or make sudden stops!
Examples of your most successful investments:
- Melio (Israeli, prior to Vesey): B2B payments platform for small businesses.
- PointFive (Israeli): Continuous cloud cost efficiency platform.
- Grain (Israeli): Embedded cross-currency hedging for SMBs.
- Coast (U.S.): Spend management for fleet-based companies.
