Mercato Partners

Greg Warnock, Ph.D., co-founded Mercato Partners in 2007 with Alan Hall and serves as Managing Director. Before Mercato, he was an angel investor and co-founder and Managing Director of vSpring Capital (now Signal Peak Ventures), an early-stage venture fund focused on the Mountain West, and he founded Junto Partners, an entrepreneurship education initiative. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship and Venture Finance from the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business.

Managing Director at Mercato who joined from Escalate Capital as an Austin-based mezzanine investor. Named a 2024 Venture Capital Outstanding Director and one of Business Insider's most important VCs in the Rockies; led Mercato's largest fundraise and sits on multiple portfolio boards.

Ben Davis is a Director at Mercato Partners and a member of the firm's Investment Committee, focusing on growth-stage companies building and scaling go-to-market functions. He has nearly three decades of experience leading revenue organizations across franchising, educational technology, services, and financial technology, including over 20 years in C-suite roles at private equity and growth equity–backed companies. Most recently he served as President and Chief Revenue Officer of Lendio, where he helped grow annual revenue from $8 million to $125 million. He holds a BA in economics with a minor in philosophy from BYU.

Dave Boyce is a serial entrepreneur who helped build and sell seven SaaS companies to acquirers including Oracle, Amazon, and Experian. He held leadership roles at ProfitLogic (acquired by Oracle), scaled an Oracle business unit, was a senior executive at InsideSales.com, and served as Executive Chairman of Winning by Design, where he wrote the book FREEMIUM (Stanford University Press, 2025). He holds a B.A. in German Literature from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and joined Mercato as an investor after advising the firm's growth portfolio on Product-Led Growth.

Josh Christensen is a Director at Mercato Partners' Growth Fund, where he leads sourcing and investing efforts in Southern California and advises executive teams on growth strategy and organizational change. Before joining Mercato in 2016, he was VP of Private Equity Investing and an engagement manager at Cicero Group, leading consulting and transformation engagements for Fortune 1000 clients. He holds a B.A. in Spanish and business, an M.B.A. from the David Eccles School of Business, and a J.D. from the S.J. Quinney College of Law, all from the University of Utah.

Amy Cooper serves as an Executive Assistant at Mercato Partners, supporting Managing Director Ryan Sanders and Director Dave Boyce. She manages calendars, communications, arrangements, and records, and assists with the firm's investor relations administration. She has over 20 years of experience in customer service, leadership, and support.

Austin Lignell is an Associate on Mercato Partners' growth equity fund. He has worked with early and growth-stage ventures in operating roles and as a valuation associate, and earned an MBA from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business with a focus on AI and entrepreneurship. During his graduate studies he supported the early-stage VC firm Illuminate Ventures and helped lead 99Tartans, an angel syndicate investing in CMU-founded companies.

Brian Lanier is the Chief Financial Officer at Mercato Partners, where he oversees financial reporting, portfolio valuation, compliance, and fund management. He began his career in public auditing at E.Y. before moving into client-side finance roles at growth-stage private-equity owned, founder-owned, and public companies across the technology and healthcare industries, gaining experience in mergers, acquisitions, and turnarounds. He earned a Master's of Accountancy from Brigham Young University and holds a CPA designation.

Casey Nixon is a Senior Associate on Mercato Partners' growth equity fund. He previously worked as a strategic finance manager at Homie, a tech-enabled real estate brokerage, before earning an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, during which he invested at Sway, TXV, Listen, and Peterson Ventures. At Mercato he supports diligence in Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, and the South/Southeast, and provides strategic and governance guidance to portfolio companies. He holds a B.S. in Strategic Management from the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Easter Niko is Mercato's Fund Controller, helping manage the firm's accounting and capital operations with a focus on financial reporting and fund accounting. He was previously a senior fund associate at Alter Domus, an auditor at BDO, an Asset Management Associate at Goldman Sachs, and a senior financial analyst at Avi Networks (now part of VMware). He holds a B.A. in accounting and Chinese literature from Brigham Young University–Hawaii and a Master of Accountancy from the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business.

Giovanni Calo is an Investment Analyst at Mercato Partners' growth fund, where he works on diligence, sourcing, building AI workflows, and supporting portfolio companies. He previously held roles including Equity Research at MSU's Research Foundation, Risk & Financial Advisory at Deloitte, AI Business at Perplexity, Investment Banking at Guggenheim, and Growth at Leland. He earned a B.A. in Finance from Michigan State University's Broad College of Business, started at Schoolcraft Community College, and also attended WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management.

Jensen Warnock is COO at Mercato Partners, where he leads the firm's adoption of technology to advance its growth-stage investment process and platform strategy. He previously co-founded the Lumen Group, a regional direct secondaries fund where he raised and invested multiple funds across technology, SaaS, branded consumer, and healthcare, and UA2, a Utah-based angel network. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business.

Managing Director at Mercato who previously trained at Blackstone and led Vivint Solar's Capital Markets during its $1.6B IPO. Co-led Mercato's growth investments and was named one of Business Insider's most important VCs in the Rockies.

Kari Harper holds a B.A. in Communications with Honors and a B.A. in Art (Graphic Design) from the University of Missouri, and an M.S. in Project Management from The George Washington University. From 2006 to 2021 she lived in Missouri and ran two small businesses, including a boutique international tour operator. She later spent eight years at Lendio, a Mercato Fund III portfolio company, in roles spanning events marketing, communications, lead generation, partnerships, and executive operations supporting the President and CRO, and now works on investor relationships at Mercato Partners.

Kiki Stoker began investing at University Growth Fund, a $100M student-run venture fund, where she performed due diligence and led deal teams, evaluating companies including Anthropic and Sardine AI. She holds a B.S. in Management and a Master of Science in Finance from Boston College, where she competed as an NCAA Division I rower.

Melissa Walred has worked for over 15 years as the personal administrator to Mercato Partners Co-Founder and Managing Director Greg Warnock. Her responsibilities include professional communications, calendar and travel coordination, internal and external project management, and executive assistant coordination.

Office manager and executive assistant supporting firm-wide operations, communications and events since joining in 2021. Previously worked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Tannaz Mohammadi is VP of Networks at Mercato Partners, where she works on expanding the firm's network, making strategic introductions, and supporting brand and community engagement to help portfolio companies grow. Before Mercato she held innovation and business development roles at Jones Lang LaSalle, Tishman Speyer, and VTS, joining the commercial real estate technology company VTS as an early employee during its growth from Series A to Series D. She holds a B.S. in Economics and Spanish from Vanderbilt University and a certificate in Finance from Georgetown University.

Tiffani Lindsey is an Executive Assistant at Mercato Partners, supporting Managing Director Ben Davis. Before Mercato, she spent 15 years as an executive assistant at Franklin Covey. In her role she manages calendars, communications, arrangements, and records for her Managing Director.