Funding news · Sep 22, 2026
Sela Raises $21M Series A Led by Costanoa Ventures for AI Voice Agents in Mortgage Lending
Sela Raises $21M Series A Led by Costanoa Ventures
Sela, a San Francisco-based company building AI voice agents for mortgage sales and consumer lending, has raised a $21 million Series A round. The round was led by Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Emergence Capital. The funding was announced on September 22, 2026.
What Sela Does
Sela develops AI voice agents purpose-built for mortgage sales and consumer lending workflows. According to the company, its agents:
- Conduct borrower outreach and qualification
- Answer complex questions during borrower conversations
- Hand engaged borrowers to loan officers with full context
The company states that its agents support more than $1 billion in new mortgage originations per month.
Traction and Customers
Sela reports that six of the ten largest independent US mortgage banks are customers. This concentration among large independent mortgage banks suggests the product has found early product-market fit in a segment where borrower outreach volume and qualification speed directly affect origination throughput.
Founding Team
Sela was founded in 2024 by Nate Becker and Vahe Tshitoyan.
- Nate Becker is a co-founder of VoiceOps.
- Vahe Tshitoyan is a former Google machine learning engineer.
The combination of voice operations experience and machine learning engineering background aligns with the company's focus on voice-driven borrower engagement.
Round Details
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Round type | Series A |
| Amount | $21,000,000 USD |
| Date | September 22, 2026 |
| Lead investor | Costanoa Ventures |
| Participating investors | Emergence Capital |
| Stage | Series A |
Why This Matters for the Mortgage Tech Market
Mortgage origination is a high-volume, high-stakes workflow where borrower outreach and qualification are often bottlenecks. Loan officers spend significant time on initial conversations that may not convert. Sela's approach places AI voice agents at the front of that funnel, qualifying borrowers and passing engaged prospects to human loan officers with context intact.
The company's claim of supporting more than $1 billion in new mortgage originations per month indicates meaningful production volume flowing through its agents. For acquisition-oriented observers, this is a signal that AI voice infrastructure in regulated lending workflows is moving from pilot to production at scale.
Investor Context
Costanoa Ventures led the round, with Emergence Capital participating. Both firms now back Sela as it scales its AI voice agent platform for mortgage sales and consumer lending.
Summary
Sela has raised a $21 million Series A led by Costanoa Ventures with participation from Emergence Capital, announced September 22, 2026. The company builds AI voice agents for mortgage sales and consumer lending, founded in 2024 by Nate Becker and Vahe Tshitoyan, and reports six of the ten largest independent US mortgage banks as customers, supporting more than $1 billion in new mortgage originations per month.