Selah Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Selah Ventures is a solo-GP female-founded early-stage fintech investment fund founded in 2022 by Adi Levanon. The firm invests in pre-seed and seed-stage fintech companies in the broadest sense, backing exceptional Israeli and American founders who are reshaping financial services and organizations for the future. Selah Ventures takes an authentic, collaborative, and unconventional approach to early-stage investing, providing not just capital but hands-on operational support and extensive industry connections.
Adi Levanon brings a unique perspective as an investor, former operator, and lawyer with a decade of fintech investing experience. Prior to founding Selah Ventures, she made early investments in several billion-dollar fintechs including Alloy, Unit, and other successful startups such as Justt, Tweed, and Dig Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2024). She also served as legal counsel and head of compliance at Conduit (a startup that became a $billion SaaS company) and as a product manager at Payoneer (NASDAQ: PAYO).
Investment Focus Areas
Selah Ventures invests across the entire fintech spectrum, with particular focus on:
Core Fintech Sectors:
- Payments infrastructure and solutions
- Lending platforms and services
- Wealth & Asset Management
- Insuretech solutions
- Privacy protection and data security
- Compliance & RegTech
- Fraud detection & identity verification
- Cybersecurity for financial services
- GenAI infrastructure for financial institutions
Target Organizations:
- Banks and traditional financial institutions
- Insurers and insurance companies
- Existing fintechs and fintech platforms
- Enterprise and SMB organizations
The fund explicitly targets financial innovation that helps reshape how financial organizations operate and serve their customers.
Stage and Check Size
Selah Ventures is a first-check investor focused on early-stage companies:
Stages: Pre-seed and Seed
- Pre-seed: Early checks for prototype and MVP development
- Seed: First institutional round for companies with initial traction
Check Size: Typical investments range from $500K to $5M, with average seed round participation around $5.4M. The fund writes first institutional checks and typically leads or co-leads rounds where it invests.
Fund Details
- Fund Size: $15M (Fund I)
- Founding Year: 2022
- Headquarters: Tel Aviv, Israel and New York, USA
- Managing Partner: Adi Levanon (solo GP)
- Fund Status: Actively deploying
- Structure: Female-founded, solo-GP fund
Portfolio and Recent Activity
As of October 2025, Selah Ventures has invested in 3 companies with 1 new investment in the last 12 months. Recent investments include:
Recent Investments (2023-2025):
- Corbel (October 2025, New York) - Lending-as-a-service platform for financial institutions, Seed stage, $6.7M total funding
- Entrio (November 2023, Tel Aviv) - Technology intelligence platform for managing tech portfolios, Seed stage, $16M total funding
- Capstack Technologies (July 2023, Miami) - Bank-to-bank marketplace and communication platform, Seed stage, $6M total funding
Notable Pre-Selah Investments (as investor):
- Unit - Banking platform (invested pre-Selah founding)
- Alloy - Identity verification and compliance platform (billion-dollar valuation)
- Justt - Chargeback management
- Tweed - Fintech payments (formerly PayTweed)
- Dig Security - Security and vulnerability management (acquired by Palo Alto Networks)
- Sensi.AI - Financial AI
- Cynomi - Fintech cybersecurity
- Lasso Security - Financial services security
- Storywise - AI-powered financial content
Investment Approach and Philosophy
Adi Levanon is known for her founder-centric approach and deep hands-on involvement. Portfolio founders consistently highlight:
- Founder-First Mentality: Treats founders as partners, not just portfolio companies
- Deep Industry Expertise: Provides specific, actionable advice on financial services and regulatory landscape
- Networking Power: Actively opens her extensive global fintech network to portfolio companies
- Operational Support: Helps with product-market fit validation, strategic fundraising, and business development
- Vendor Introductions: Connects founders with engineers, service providers, and future investors
- Board Support: Actively sits on boards and provides strategic guidance
- Compliance Guidance: Leverages her legal and compliance background to help navigate regulatory challenges
Geographic Focus
Selah Ventures primarily invests in Israeli and American founders:
- Primary Markets: Israel and United States (especially NYC and SF Bay Area)
- Portfolio Split: 2 US-based companies, 1 Israel-based company (as of 2025)
- Founder Base: Exceptional Israeli and American founders building in the US fintech ecosystem
Decision Process and Timeline
- Decision Structure: Solo GP model - Adi Levanon makes investment decisions
- Investment Process: Direct founder engagement with thorough due diligence
- Check Writing: First institutional checks, typically leading or co-leading rounds
- Timeline: Responsive decision-making with hands-on evaluation
Co-Investors and Network
Selah Ventures regularly co-invests with other fintech-focused investors:
- Frequent Co-Investors: Fin Capital (2 companies), Ibex Investors, Joule Ventures
- Follow-On Investors: Citi Ventures has invested after Selah in portfolio companies
- Pre-Selah Co-Investors: Communitas Capital, Fosun (angel/early-stage)
- Network: Connected with top-tier fintech investors and corporate VCs
Team
Adi Levanon - Founder & Managing Partner
- Founder and Managing Partner of Selah Ventures (founded 2022)
- Decade of fintech investing experience (since 2015)
- Former investor at Flint Capital and other early-stage firms
- Legal counsel and head of compliance at Conduit (became $billion SaaS company)
- Product manager at Payoneer (NASDAQ: PAYO)
- Lawyer and operator background
- Active speaker and panelist at fintech conferences (FinTech Junction 2026, TECH1 Conference, etc.)
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/levanonadi/
- Twitter: https://x.com/levanonadi
The fund operates as a solo-GP model with Adi as the sole managing partner, allowing for personalized, thoughtful investment decisions.
Competitive Positioning
Selah Ventures distinguishes itself in the fintech VC landscape through:
- Specialization: Deep focus exclusively on fintech in its broadest sense (not generalist)
- Solo GP Advantage: Direct founder access and personalized decision-making
- Female Founder Leadership: One of few female-founded, female-led fintech VC funds
- First-Check Focus: Specializes in pre-seed and seed, becoming the first institutional investor
- Global Perspective: Israeli founder with deep US market connections
- Operational Expertise: Combines legal, compliance, and operational backgrounds
- Industry Credibility: Early investor in billion-dollar companies gives credibility with founders
Founder Feedback and Track Record
Consistent feedback from portfolio founders emphasizes:
- Adi's deep understanding of fintech business models and financial services landscape
- Her genuine commitment to founder success beyond capital provision
- Her ability to provide strategic guidance on GTM, product, and compliance
- Her vast network in both Israeli and US fintech ecosystems
- Her transparency and willingness to ask tough questions
- Her proactive approach to problem-solving and introductions
Current Fund Status
- Active Deployment: Fund I is actively deploying as of late 2025
- Most Recent Investment: Corbel (October 2025)
- Portfolio Companies: 3 active investments
- New Investments (last 12 months): 1 new investment (Corbel in Oct 2025)
- Fund Runway: Early-stage fund with capacity for additional pre-seed and seed investments
Thesis Summary
Selah Ventures backs founders reshaping financial services through innovative fintech solutions. The fund believes in the power of exceptional founders (Israeli and American) building products that serve banks, insurers, and enterprises. Adi's deep expertise in fintech, combined with her legal and operational background, enables her to provide unique value-add support to early-stage founders navigating the complex financial services landscape.