Posts Tagged ‘mercury capital advisors’

Gates-backed MetaVC Partners raises $62m for debut fund

Posted by Muhammad Ibrahim Masudi

MetaVC Partners, which is backed by Bill Gates, has closed on $62 million for its debut fund to invest in start-ups working with new advanced materials.

Besides Gates Frontier, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ investment fund, investors in the debut fund include Corning Inc and JSR Corporation. Nathan Myhrvold, formerly chief technology officer for Microsoft, is also an LP, along with two other investors whose names have not been disclosed, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The San Francisco-based firm was co-founded in 2020 by managing partners Chris Alliegro and Conrad Burke. Alliegro, based in Seattle, most recently was managing director of the Invention Science Fund, following eight years as managing director of the Invention Development Fund and 14 years as an executive at Microsoft. Burke, based in San Francisco, previously founded and was chief executive of energy materials start-up Innovalight, which was acquired by DuPont, and was a venture partner at Sevin Rosen Funds and Invention Science Fund.

“We’re delighted to help support innovation advancements in the exciting new area of metamaterials through our recent venture capital investment,” Corning executive vice-president Marty Curran said in a statement. “Corning’s capabilities and optimized precision glass products complement MetaVC’s investment opportunities related to breakthrough products in consumer electronics, 5G communications, automotive and clean energy.”

MetaVC invests in so-called ‘metamaterials,’ which are manufactured materials used in high-performance and energy-efficient products in computing, imaging, wireless communications and sensors. The firm’s investments include Lumotive, a producer of scanning sensors for anti-collision systems and consumer electronics applications, and Imagia, a creator of flat-optical lens technologies used in AR/VR headsets and other consumer electronics products.

Source: Venture Capital Journal

Mercury adds US secondaries advisory exec

Posted by Muhammad Ibrahim Masudi

The adviser and placement agent sees a growing opportunity in the US lower middle market, particularly in preferred equity.

Picture: Vik Salh

Mercury Capital Advisors has brought a new hire over from the West Coast to join its New York secondaries advisory business.

The adviser and placement agent has appointed Vik Salh vice president of secondaries, according to his LinkedIn profile. Salh joins from Davis, California-headquartered advisory shop Upwelling Capital, where he spent six years.

Mercury’s London-headquartered head of secondaries Sabina Sammartino told Secondaries Investor that the firm will make more hires in the US in response to an uptick in lower mid-market deal flow, particularly in the preferred equity space. “Given where we are in the market, in terms of volatility and the potential gap in pricing expectations between buyers and sellers, preferred equity is an elegant way of bridging that gap,” she said. “It’s something we are very much aware of and think is going to be a good opportunity in the coming months.”

Earlier this week, Secondaries Investor reported that Mercury advised on a preferred equity deal centred on European special situations manager Springwater Capital. Morningside Capital Management and LSV Advisors provided capital to help the GP take advantage of opportunities brought about by market dislocation.

Volatile public markets are making it more difficult to value private assets, leading to greater risk aversion among buyers and an increase in the number of secondaries deals stalling and being repriced, Secondaries Investor reported.

Mercury Capital was acquired by Bahrain-headquartered investment firm Investcorp in 2019. In addition to its secondaries business, it has been a regular placement agent for GPs such as Coller Capital and Asia-focused growth investor Anchor Equity Partners.

Source: Secondaries Investor

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