Houston-based venture capital firm Mercury Fund has brought in a veteran in Chicago’s tech and startup scene to help build its portfolio in the Windy City, an area that was once considered “flyover country” to the rest of the VC world.
Eddie Lou, a former general partner with OCA Ventures and active angel investor in more than 40 early-stage and growth-stage tech companies, was named as a venture partner in Chicago for the software-focused firm, which is committed to making investments in companies that exist between the East and West coasts.
Lou told Chicago Inno that his mandate from Mercury is simple: Find great Chicago business-to-business marketplace companies at the seed and Series A stage and write significant checks to support those founders.
Lou said that when he first entered Chicago’s startup scene, there were only a handful of active venture firms, but now the players have all changed, fueled in part by the rise of remote work during the pandemic, as well as the establishment of tech hubs such as 1871 and homegrown companies such as GrubHub and Groupon going public.
Now Mercury sees more opportunity in the middle of the country than ever before. That’s because capital deployment in venture has become a far more frictionless process with the change of work patterns during Covid, according to Adrian Fortino, Michigan-based managing director at Mercury.
“Many funds, including us, wouldn’t have dreamed of making an investment with work done over Zoom without being done in person,” he told Chicago Inno. “That’s a dynamic that’s now commonplace.”
He said “Zoom investing” has freed up a ton of capital for the middle of the country, and he expects that to continue as the pandemic winds down.
Still, in Fortino's mind, there is no substitute for someone who is on the ground with a credible network and decades of experience in the space, leading the firm to bringing in Lou, whose investments over the years have included Cameo, Chowbus and the Mom Project.
“It’s apples and oranges when it comes to the sourcing ability, the relationship building and engagement,” he said.
Lou sees his job as a venture partner as being about more than just supplying capital for growth. He’s helped numerous companies in his portfolio assemble the right team by adding an executive, and that’s something he can provide on the ground rather than just over Zoom.
Last month, Mercury promoted Samantha Lewis to partner with the aim of expanding its investments into data platforms, fintech and Web3, a new stage of the internet driven by blockchain.
