Tess Munsie

Tess Munsie, a Vice President at Oak HC/FT, joined the firm in 2021 and focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities in fintech.

Tess currently serves as a Board Observer at EasySend.

Prior to joining Oak HC/FT, Tess was a Senior Associate at General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, where she focused on financial services and fintech investments. Prior to that, Tess worked at Goldman Sachs in the Technology, Media & Telecommunication group within the Investment Banking Division.

Tess received a Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, from Cornell University.

I try to strike a balance between left-brained and right-brained thinking. My maternal grandfather was a first-generation immigrant from China who went from a kitchen worker to owning his own restaurant. He and my mom both instilled in me a focus on rigor and hard work as the way to make something happen from nothing. On my dad’s side, I come from a long line of creatives – artists, racecar drivers, film designers – whose passions ignited an artistic spark within me. As I’ve worked at firms like Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic, and now Oak HC/FT, I’ve enjoyed exercising the analytical rigor and grit passed down from one side, while also bringing a creative lens to helping companies solve some of their more complex and multi-dimensional challenges.

I believe that the role of an investor should extend beyond the term sheet. We are our portfolio companies’ unwavering partners and biggest cheerleaders. By working with dozens of companies that are entering or scaling through the growth stage, we see that the shape of their problems is often similar – building out the branches of a company, scaling go-to-market strategy, positioning for the next chapter of growth. While the details are different in each situation, pattern recognition allows us to provide practical and actionable guidance based on what we’ve seen work in the past.

The financial services sector is not for the faint of heart. It's antiquated, rigid, complex, and intimidating. The first financial system dates back to 2000 BCE, and instances of banking, lending and financial fraud have been developing ever since. Because of this multi-century evolution, the systems and stakeholders cannot transform overnight. Instead, the fintech revolution occurs in distinct episodes, as we've seen in Fintech 1.0, Fintech 2.0, Fintech 3.0, and now Fintech 4.0. With each new era, what was once novel - like an ATM (circa Fintech 2.0)- is now tertiary and superseded by innovation in digital banking, mobile payments, ecommerce enablement. To have an enduring impact, it is crucial to be a long-term problem solver. The real changemakers are the entrepreneurs who are thinking a decade ahead - bypassing interim solutions to drive a generational sector shift.