Mercury Fund

Previously founded Gestalt Theory Venture Partners venture studio. Held leadership roles at Insperity (NYSE: NSP) in corporate development and fintech. Brings foundational management experience from Travelers Group and UPS, and entrepreneurial background from his family's retail business.

Leads Mercury's fintech and blockchain practice, backing founders innovating in financial services. Previously Investment Director at Goose Capital and a two-time founder in beauty and food products. Co-hosts the podcast MoneyMoves exploring the intersection of traditional finance and web3.

Leads Mercury's industrial transformation practice, backing industrial and physical AI startups. Previously Managing Director of Invest Detroit Ventures and co-founder of three software companies, he teaches VC fundamentals at the University of Michigan.

A partner with over 15 years in B2B software go-to-market, having led marketing at Atlassian, Gremlin, Vanta, and Tailscale. She helps founders design and execute GTM strategies.

Joined Mercury Fund in 2008 and invests across healthcare IT, DevOps tools, cybersecurity, and vertical AI. He is a board member of the NVCA and an adjunct professor at Rice University's Jones School of Business.

Co-founder of Mercury Fund who previously was CEO of Intermat and a principal at Genesis Park, and helped build Houston's innovation ecosystem including the Houston Angel Network and Houston Technology Center. He is an adjunct professor of entrepreneurial finance at Rice's Jones School of Business.

Focuses on B2B vertical AI in worktech, fintech, and sportstech. He previously founded venture studio Gestalt Theory Venture Partners and held leadership roles at Insperity.

Peter Commons is a Senior Lecturer at Wisconsin School of Business who teaches software product and technology. He has held executive roles at Apple, Amazon, Groupon, and Zendesk, where he led product, engineering, and data teams across multiple organizational levels. Commons has over 10 years of hands-on development experience and holds 12 patents.

Leads Mercury's fintech and blockchain practice, focusing on early-stage companies at the convergence of TradFi and web3. She previously was Investment Director at Goose Capital and co-hosts the MoneyMoves podcast.

Andrew White is an entrepreneur and founder of Queso Me Mucho. He previously ran as a candidate for Governor of Texas.

Dan Watkins is CEO and founder of Quicksilver Labs. He serves as venture partner and co-founder at Mercury Fund, and previously co-founded Mercury Data Science, which became OmniScience.

Eddie Lou is an active early-stage investor with stakes in over 40 pre-venture and growth-stage technology companies, serving as board member or advisor to many of these firms. He is executive chairman and co-founder of Shiftgig, a workforce technology company he built from 2012 to 2017 as CEO through three rounds of venture financing to 200 employees. Lou previously served as general partner at OCA Ventures leading ten software and business services investments, and co-founded OneGoal, a nonprofit focused on college persistence for urban high school students that has grown to serve 13,000 students across six cities with a $15 million annual budget.

Matt Ochsner is co-founder and managing partner of OBR Partners, an AI-powered M&A advisory firm serving founders, private equity, and venture-backed companies. He brings over 20 years of experience in internet technology and investment banking, including operating roles at Amazon, Google, and Yahoo, and investment banking positions at Piper Sandler and Needham & Company. Ochsner advises on mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, and strategic positioning in emerging growth technology, with a focus on lower middle market transactions.

Adrienne Miller is the Founder and Principal of Miller Operations and Strategy, a consulting firm focused on strategy and operations. With nearly a decade of experience, she has worked across philanthropy, healthcare, education, international development, venture capital, and nonprofit leadership, helping mission-driven organizations develop strategies, secure funding, and build partnerships. Her work emphasizes resource mobilization, cross-sector collaboration between private, nonprofit, and public entities, and the alignment of stakeholders around shared organizational objectives.

Focuses on the AI enablement of legacy industries such as heavy industry, real estate, sports, and hospitality. A former oil and gas engineer and Houston F&B co-owner, he hosts the AI After Dark podcast.

Chief Financial Officer at Mercury, previously with venture fund-of-funds Cintrifuse and mezzanine fund Northcreek. He is a CFA charterholder and member of the CFA Society Houston.

Brad Van Otterloo is co-founder of Tancho Sushi. He has experience building sales, marketing, and customer success operations in high-growth environments, with a background in recruiting talent, developing compensation plans, implementing CRM systems, and overseeing product development and market launches.

Chantell Preston is a serial entrepreneur and investor with over 25 years of experience in healthcare business development and scaling. She co-founded and owns LOVB San Francisco, a League One Volleyball Team, and serves as CEO of Preston Partners, an advisory firm focused on organizational growth and strategy. Preston has completed multiple company exits, including the private equity acquisition of Mentis Neuro Health, and currently serves as Managing Partner of The Collectiv, a venture fund investing in sports and health technology.

Analyst supporting financial reporting, fund operations, and performance analysis. He previously worked at real estate fund administrator Verivest and Rockspring Capital.

Erik Huddleston is Chief Executive Officer at Aprimo. He has held leadership roles across go-to-market strategy, product, and operations at B2B SaaS companies, with experience managing sales, marketing, product, and development functions in global organizations. Huddleston serves as an independent board member and CEO advisor, with board service at high-growth SaaS companies in salestech, martech, and vertical SaaS sectors.

Chief Operating Officer managing firm operations and community engagement, and Executive Director of the CXO Summit. She previously worked as a business analyst at Trenegy.

Kirk Ball is Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Giant Eagle, Inc. He serves on multiple advisory and board positions, including the Customer Advisory Board at CBTS, the Growth Advisory Board at Kaminario, and the Advisory Board at Mercury Fund Venture Capital. His experience spans technology strategic planning, financial management, organizational leadership, and talent development across large-scale IT operations.

Kurt Abrahamson is Executive Chairman at brrrº and Board Director at Civitech. Throughout his career, he has raised over $200 million for ventures and has experience in sales, marketing, product development, and operational infrastructure development.

Laura Gaviria Halaby is Head of Business and Corporate Development at Subquadratic, where she leads strategic partnerships and investor relations. Previously, she held roles at SoftBank Latin America Funds, Citi, and IDB Lab focused on fintech and innovation ecosystem development, and was part of the founding team at Faktory, an AI agents company. Her experience spans work across 30+ countries and five continents in connecting technology with capital, partnerships, customers, and institutional adoption.

Chief Product Officer advising portfolio companies on product strategy and go-to-market. Her career centered on building and leading early-stage B2B SaaS businesses through IPO or acquisition.

Manolo Sanchez served as Chairman and CEO of BBVA Compass, where he expanded the subsidiary from 2,000 to 10,000 employees and grew assets from $3 billion to $100 billion through six bank acquisitions and $40 billion in organic growth, establishing it as a top 20 U.S. commercial bank by deposits. During his tenure, he implemented a client-centric business model, pioneered mobile and online banking services that earned Model Bank of the Year recognition from Celent, and oversaw a migration to a new core banking system. He currently serves on the board of Affirm and previously represented BBVA on national and international forums while supporting digital marketing initiatives across sports, cultural, and arts sponsorships in the Sunbelt region.

Marc Sharpe is Founder and Chairman of The Family Office Association, a peer network for single family offices established in 2007. He serves as Strategic Advisor to Group RMC and Mercury Fund, and as Operating Partner with Satori Capital, focusing on private equity and real estate investments. Sharpe teaches an MBA course on entrepreneurial family offices at Rice University and Southern Methodist University, and holds degrees from Cambridge University, Oxford University, and Harvard Business School.

Omair Tariq is the founder and CEO of Cart.com, an ecommerce-as-a-service platform that provides integrated software, services, and infrastructure to enable brands to manage their online operations. He co-founded the company with Jim Jacobsen, former CEO and founder of Rticoutdoors.com, to offer a comprehensive suite of ecommerce solutions including store software, digital marketing, fulfillment, financial services, and customer support. Cart.com serves brands of varying sizes seeking to consolidate their ecommerce operations with a single provider.

Director of Finance at Mercury, previously at healthcare-focused PE firm CRG LP and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is a licensed CPA in Texas.

Paul Schaut is Chair of TIGER 21 Boston and has served as an independent director on 30 boards across public, private equity, and venture capital companies. He previously held CEO positions at eight companies and led transactions in CPG, retail, healthcare, and enterprise analytics, including 16 M&A deals ranging from $6 million to $1.8 billion and six company exits. Schaut has raised over $400 million in capital for more than two dozen companies and led a Goldman Sachs-backed IPO that reached a $12 billion market cap.

Office Assistant handling administrative tasks and daily operational needs, previously a Sales Support Specialist at Experian Consumer Services.

Roberto Moctezuma is founder and CEO of Fractal River, a consulting firm serving growth-stage startups with strategic and operational infrastructure for scaling. He has over 20 years of senior executive experience in technology, including 15 years at Hewlett-Packard where he built the eCommerce business in Latin America, managed the $8B direct business for the Americas region, and led the $240M acquisition of Neoware. For the past decade, he has focused on helping high-growth technology companies scale through analytics, AI, data engineering, and operational capabilities across the customer lifecycle, while serving as a Venture Advisor at Mercury Fund and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Rice University.

Operations Manager supporting the investment team with deal-flow pipeline and database management, research, and LP relations.