# Abel Makkonen Tesfaye

> Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is a seed investor at SALXCO (Toronto) backing Music and FinTech. See 11 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [SALXCO](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/salxco)
- Location: Toronto, Canada
- Total investments: 11
- Last investment: Aug 2022
- Lead investor: 18%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/theweeknd
- Website: https://www.theweeknd.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theweeknd

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is a seed investor at SALXCO in Toronto focused on Music and FinTech. The Weeknd, also known as Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer. The singer started in 2010 and released 4 albums and 43 singles.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $2.3M–$20M |
| Series A | $40M–$555M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Music | 2 | 18% |
| FinTech | 2 | 18% |
| Internet | 2 | 18% |
| E-Commerce | 2 | 18% |
| Financial Services | 2 | 18% |

30 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 3 | 27% |
| Series A | 2 | 18% |
| Angel | 1 | 9% |
| Series D | 1 | 9% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 9% |

6 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 7 | 64% |
| Canada | 1 | 9% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 9% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pomelo | At Pomelo, we're rewriting the narrative of financial empowerment by pioneering the integration of credit and international money transfer. Our mission is simple yet profound: to provide immigrants with a way to share funds with their loved ones abroad at a fraction of the cost, enabling families to connect and thrive across borders.Behindthe scenes, we’re a passionate team of experienced founders and operators, driven by a shared commitment to excellence. Join us on this journey toward financial empowerment and global connectivity.Backed by Keith Rabois of Founders Fund (CEO at Opendoor, former COO of Square), Kevin Hartz (Co-founder/CEO of Xoom), The Chainsmokers, The Weeknd, and more. | $20M | Seed | Aug 16, 2022 |  |
| Koia | Koia is a food and beverage company that specializes in manufacturing plant protein drinks. The company is driven by its mission is to empower people through plants,100% Plant-Based Protein and natural ingredients. Each 12 oz bottle is packed with 15-19g of plant-based protein with amazing taste and under 5g of sugar.The company was founded in2014 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. |  | Convertible Note | Apr 15, 2022 |  |
| Songfinch | Songfinch is a platform to buy custom songs from professional artists. | $5M | Seed | Apr 04, 2022 |  |
| Backbone | Backbone is an attachable gaming controller for iPhones that requires no charging, is the top-selling product. | $40M | Series A | Feb 23, 2022 |  |
| MoonPay | MoonPay is a financial technology company that provides payment solutions for cryptocurrency. Its on-and-off-ramp suite of products provides a seamless experience for converting between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies using all major payment methods including debit and credit cards, local bank transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. | $555M | Series A | Nov 22, 2021 |  |
| Pomelo | At Pomelo, we're rewriting the narrative of financial empowerment by pioneering the integration of credit and international money transfer. Our mission is simple yet profound: to provide immigrants with a way to share funds with their loved ones abroad at a fraction of the cost, enabling families to connect and thrive across borders.Behindthe scenes, we’re a passionate team of experienced founders and operators, driven by a shared commitment to excellence. Join us on this journey toward financial empowerment and global connectivity.Backed by Keith Rabois of Founders Fund (CEO at Opendoor, former COO of Square), Kevin Hartz (Co-founder/CEO of Xoom), The Chainsmokers, The Weeknd, and more. | $5M | Seed | Oct 12, 2021 |  |
| Online Shop | Online Shop started as a side project by Terry McGinnis and Joe Todd after launch of Cozy, UK's leading online department store for premium products.With the immense success of Cozy the pair decided to extend their knowledge and support to local businesses who were struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thisgo-to-market strategy proved to be fruitful and the Online Shop team expanded to almost 20+ members, helping not only businesses which were trying to come online but also individual entrepreneurs who wanted to start to trade online. |  | Angel | Aug 15, 2021 |  |
| Pearpop | Pearpop is the marketplace for social collaborations between the teeming hordes of musicians, craftspeople, chefs, clowns, diarists, dancers, artists, actors, acrobats, aspiring celebrities, and actual celebrities. | $6M | Seed | Apr 15, 2021 |  |
| Forward | Forward is a startup redesigning the way healthcare is delivered using all the technologies healthcare has neglected such as sensors, mobile, and AI.Forward was founded in January 2016 by former executives and engineering leaders from Google and Uber and led by serial entrepreneur Adrian Aoun. Forward is funded by investors and entrepreneursincluding First Round Capital, Eric Schmidt (Google/Alphabet chairman), Marc Benioff (Salesforce founder), Joe Lonsdale (Palantir founder), Joshua Kushner (Oscar co-founder), and Garrett Camp (Uber co-founder). | $225M | Series D | Mar 11, 2021 |  |
| Songfinch | Songfinch is a platform to buy custom songs from professional artists. | $2.3M | Seed | Jan 10, 2021 |  |

10 of 11 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Afore Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/afore-capital) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [CIC Angels](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cic-angels) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Night Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/night-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Sound Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sound-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [The Chainsmokers](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/the-chainsmokers) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Xfund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/xfund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About SALXCO

VC Fund · Los Angeles, United States

SALXCO (also known as XO and XO Records) is a Canadian record label founded by singer Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye his managers, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, Amir "Cash" Esmailian and his creative director La Mar Taylor. Sal also serves as the label's CEO. As of 2012, it operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and isdistributed through Republic Records.The label is home to acts such as The Weeknd, Doja Cat, Diddy, French Montana, Nav, Belly and up and coming artists such as Ali Gatie. The groups senior vice president is Alan Zadeh who overlooks the creative direction and works with Sal directly to ensure smooth operation of the label.

5 contacts available at SALXCO.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Abel Makkonen Tesfaye | Co-Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/abel-makkonen-tesfaye |
| Alan Zadeh | Senior Vice President | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alan-zadeh |
| Amir Esmailian | Co-Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/amir-esmailian-717e |
| La Mar C. Taylor | Co-Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/la-mar-c-taylor |
| Wassim Joseph Slaiby | Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/wassim-joseph-slaiby |

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## Featured in investor lists
- [Music Angel Investors](https://shizune.co/investors/music-angel-investors)
- [Music Angel Investors in United States](https://shizune.co/investors/music-angel-investors-united-states)

## FAQ

### What does Abel Makkonen Tesfaye invest in?

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye invests primarily in Music, FinTech and Internet startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 11 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye's check size?

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye typically joins rounds of $2.3M–$20M at Seed and $40M–$555M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Abel Makkonen Tesfaye participates in.

### When did Abel Makkonen Tesfaye last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Abel Makkonen Tesfaye closed in Aug 2022. Shizune tracks 11 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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