Amy Cheetham

Background

Amy Cheetham is a Partner at Costanoa Ventures, where she focuses on seed and Series A investments in B2B fintech and modern SaaS ¹. She joined Costanoa in 2019 and was promoted to Partner in November 2021 ²³.

Before joining Costanoa, Cheetham ran North American sales strategy and operations as Chief of Staff at Zuora, a public enterprise software company ¹³. Prior to Zuora, she spent three years as a growth equity investor at Summit Partners, where she sourced the firm’s investments in Podium, InfoArmor (acquired by Allstate), and onXmaps ¹³. She began her career on Wall Street at JP Morgan, working as a technology investment banker and as a cash equities trader focused on biotechnology and financial services ¹³.

Cheetham holds a B.A. in Government from Connecticut College ⁴. She is an advocate for financial inclusion and diversity in venture capital, and works with AllRaise to run a VC careers job board aimed at broadening access to roles in the industry ¹³.

She was named to the Forbes Midas Brink List in 2023, recognizing her as one of the top ten emerging VCs ¹⁵. She was also named to EVCA’s Top 25 Emerging VCs ¹.

Stated Thesis

Cheetham has publicly described her focus as seed and Series A stage B2B fintech companies, encompassing fintech infrastructure, payments, and application-layer tools ¹. She has stated that she has expanded Costanoa’s fintech practice into emerging markets, specifically Latin America and Africa ¹³.

In a 2025 LinkedIn interview, Cheetham stated that “the real alpha is going to be at the app layer” in AI for financial services, noting that “enterprises are leaning into AI for real efficiency gains, product and engineering orgs still set the agenda, and the whitespace in ‘boring’ industries is wider than most people assume” ⁶. She also stated that “the next breakout companies in AI for financial services won’t come from the obvious places” ⁶.

Cheetham has said she believes that “for-profit technology companies stand the best chance of solving many of the world’s toughest problems and venture lets me be a part of that process” ¹.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 10 verified investments led or co-led by Cheetham at Costanoa, the following patterns emerge. Note: sample size is small and these are qualitative observations rather than statistically robust breakdowns.

Sector focus: The portfolio is overwhelmingly fintech. Of 10 verified investments, at least 9 are fintech or fintech-adjacent (90%). The portfolio spans payments infrastructure (Highnote, Malga, Tensec, Basis Theory), payroll/financial services for underserved markets (Cadana, Highline), identity verification/fraud prevention (Trully), solopreneur financial tools (Assis), and cross-border finance (Tensec). Only Kevala (healthcare workforce management) falls outside fintech.

Geographic distribution: A notable portion of the portfolio targets emerging markets, particularly Latin America and Africa. Malga (Brazil), Assis (Brazil), Trully (Mexico), Cadana (Africa/emerging markets), and Tensec (cross-border with offices in Mexico City and Sao Paulo) all have significant emerging market operations. This is a distinctive pattern not commonly seen among US-based seed investors.

Stage distribution: Primarily seed-stage investments, with follow-on participation at Series A and beyond. The Basis Theory Series B lead (2025) shows willingness to lead later rounds for portfolio companies.

Founder profiles: The portfolio shows a preference for founders with deep domain expertise in financial services and payments. Highnote was founded by former Braintree/PayPal executives ⁷. Tensec was founded by veterans from PayPal, Goldman Sachs, Visa, Mastercard, and Credit Karma ⁸. Basis Theory was co-founded by Ben Milne, previously founder of Dwolla ⁹.

Board involvement: Cheetham sits on the boards of Tensec, Assis, Trully, Cadana, Malga, and Kevala, and serves as Board Observer at Highline — indicating a hands-on, high-engagement model ¹.

Notable pattern not mentioned in stated thesis: The strong concentration in Latin American fintech (3 of 10 companies based in Brazil or Mexico) is a distinctive specialization that goes beyond the general “emerging markets” framing in her stated thesis.

Portfolio

This table represents Cheetham’s known Costanoa investments. Her pre-Costanoa investments at Summit Partners included Podium, InfoArmor, and onXmaps ³.

In Their Own Words

“Tensec lets global trade companies seamlessly integrate financial services to better serve their clients. It’s a win-win — new revenue for trading companies and modern financial tools for SMBs.” — Amy Cheetham, Tensec seed announcement, June 2025 ⁸.

“Albert and Ameer have built exactly that, a purpose-built suite of white label products and APIs for emerging markets to power the next generation pay experience for millions of workers.” — Amy Cheetham, Cadana seed announcement, June 2024 ¹⁵.

“Basis Theory is at the forefront of a dramatic shift as AI reshapes ecommerce as we know it. By giving merchants secure, real-time control over payment data, Basis Theory enables AI agents to authorize transactions, personalize experiences, and drive autonomous purchasing. They aren’t just keeping up with the future of commerce — they’re building it.” — Amy Cheetham, Basis Theory Series B announcement, October 2025 ⁹.

“I firmly believe that for-profit technology companies stand the best chance of solving many of the world’s toughest problems and venture lets me be a part of that process.” — Amy Cheetham, Costanoa Ventures website ¹.

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Costanoa’s partner announcement noted that Cheetham’s collaboration style with founders and board members “has earned admiration and the kind of founder references that win deals,” but this is firm-sourced, not independently verified ³.

Connections

• Board member, Tensec ¹
• Board member, Assis ¹
• Board member, Trully (acquired by Unico, September 2024) ¹¹²
• Board member, Cadana ¹
• Board member, Malga ¹
• Board member, Kevala (acquired by Residex AI, August 2025) ¹
• Board observer, Highline ¹
• AllRaise member — runs VC careers job board ³
• Former Growth Equity Investor, Summit Partners ³
• Former Chief of Staff, Zuora ³

Sources