SelectFi founder Tommy Vullo on scaling a startup in Buffalo and finding strength in community
The very first day SelectFI launched its beta test with a local car dealership, they called him and explained the software tool was stuck on a spinning wheel.
Company founder Tommy Vullo responded that sometimes it could take up to 10 seconds to generate reliable lending solutions for their customers — the subtext was that it was still worth it for the transparency and consistency SelectFI would provide to the car buying process.
“He said, ‘Well, it’s been spinning for three hours,” Vullo recalls with a laugh.
Good thing for hindsight.
Vullo, the former West Herr Automotive finance director, started SelectFi in 2021 based on his observations of cracks in the car-buying process between customers, dealers and lenders. The company’s platform enables dealers to quickly quote accurate payments to consumers and match them with the right lenders - building trust, ensuring compliance and speeding up the entire process.
SelectFI overcame that first excruciating hurdle, now a humorous metaphor for the many unexpected challenges of startup life, and is quickly expanding nationally, with more than 100 dealership groups across 20 states.
In that way, the Buffalo-based company is building on the automotive technology legacy of ACV Auctions, a homegrown startup that went public at a $3.8 billion valuation in 2021 and still has 600 local employees.
ACV cofounders Dan Magnuszewski and Jack Greco are angel investors in SelectFI and have provided critical guidance as Vullo navigated the company’s early days.
SelectFI, which raised a $2.5 million seed round in 2025, has a full engineering team based in Buffalo and continues to enhance its product. Andrew Sweet was appointed the company's CEO at that time, with Vullo serving as chief strategy officer.
But has definitively entered an era focused on growth.
“It’s all scale and distribution now,” Vullo said. “How many dealers can we get on our platform in different ways so that we can build a bigger moat with our data.”
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To that end, SelectFI has created several new ways of landing with dealership clients. Syracuse-based Impel AI, a customer engagement platform with more than 8,000 car dealerships, has signed on as a distributor. SelectFI was also recently approved as a vendor on The Shop by FordDirect, making the platform available to Ford and Lincoln dealers across the country.
It all feeds SelectFI's expectation of fast expansion as it seeks to reach all 50 states and prepares for funding rounds that could supercharge its growth. The company currently has 17 employees, 11 of which are in Buffalo.
Other locally relevant supporters of SelectFI include the University at Buffalo, which is an equity investor. UB senior associate VP of economic development, Per Stromhaug, has become a confidante and advisor. The same with Launch NY and its president/CEO Marnie LaVigne, an investor and active supporter. The company’s seed round was led by StartFast Ventures, where Buffalo-based Olivia Goldstein is a partner; while active Upstate NY startup supporters Nasir Ali and Chuck Stormon are also partners.
There is a direct connection between that network and SelectFI’s ability to withstand adversity and keep believing in its mission of a better way to transact automobiles.
“When your supporters are local people who are on the journey with you, they’re buying into you and your mission, not just a tool or a product,” Vullo said. “Buffalo is a great place because everyone is so down to earth, even our investors. They’re there for you, and they can talk you through all of the challenges you face as you’re building a company.”
