FinTech startup OneVest raised $17 million in Series A funding this past June. The wealth management platform was co-founded in 2021 by MFE alumnus Jakob Pizzera, class of 2010, who serves as the company’s COO. Deloitte Ventures, itself launched in just January 2022, is one of OneVest’s investors. Its investment team is co-led by Managing Director Jay Crone, also a 2010 MFE alumnus.

Pizzera and Crone met 14 years ago during the math bootcamp the department runs every August for incoming MFE students. They have been the best of friends ever since.

“I have vivid memories of Jay and Jakob from their time in the program back in 2010,” said Professor Jordi Mondria, Director of the MFE program. “It’s inspiring to see them as MFE alumni who still embody the program’s core values – leadership, curiosity, drive, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit. They stand as exceptional role models for our current students.”

The friendship the two forged at UofT helped to solidify the additional co-founder-investor relationship they have now.

“We actually started talking to Deloitte Ventures, which was just getting started, before Jay joined the company,” Pizzera recalled, “but once he was in the position the fact that I knew what he was like, and how he works, made the deal easier to navigate.”

The friendship also benefitted Deloitte Ventures.

“Deloitte missed out on the opportunity to invest in OneVest during their first round of funding,” Crone said. “It was just a matter of having too many people who wanted to invest in the company, which is a good problem for a FinTech startup to have.”

Prior knowledge of the other helped the pair to take shortcuts during the getting to know you phase of most founder-investor relationships. They did not have to assess each other’s characters or build trust because they already had it. There were no shortcuts, however, in the due diligence process.

“There were certainly shortcuts during the early phase of discussions,” Pizzera recounted. “That is when VCs are most interested in the calibre of the team and their experience relative to the focus of the business and its model. It did make for a seamless transition into the deeper due diligence.”

It’s a perspective Crone shares. [Read more…]