Tallwave Capital has announced that the company has hired Nathan Mortensen as a principal to source potential companies, conduct due diligence, provide investment recommendations and oversee day-to-day operations of its $13.15 million Tallwave Commercialization Fund I. Closed in October 2014, the fund is concentrating on early-stage software, marketing, advertising and technology companies across a variety of verticals and platforms in the U.S. with a focus on Arizona.
“We are extremely pleased that Nate is returning to his roots in Arizona after establishing strong capital connections in the flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Salt Lake City,” said Allan Kaplan, Tallwave Commercialization Fund I Investment Committee member and managing partner of KG Investments. “His skills and experience are ideal for helping us to identify great companies and entrepreneurs that are looking to solve real problems in the marketplace.”
The fund seeks to make investments of $150K – $400K in early-stage differentiated consumer- and enterprise-focused businesses in strategic industry verticals. Tallwave Capital is also looking to expand its network nationally and is open to co-investment opportunities with quality partners.
“The innovation ecosystem in Arizona is in a rapid growth period and I’m excited to be leveraging my experience and network to help support it,” said Mortensen. “Having 85 percent of our fund come from Arizona investors is a huge testament to the momentum that is building and we are very optimistic about the future.”
Mortensen is a Tempe native and earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Arizona State University before completing his MBA in Finance & Entrepreneurship from Brigham Young University (BYU). While attending BYU, he served as a director at Cougar Capital, a $2.5-million student-run venture capital fund. Mortensen also worked at Peterson Partners in Salt Lake City improving investment selection for early-stage venture and search fund groups. Prior to pursuing his MBA, Mortensen worked at ON Semiconductor, The Boeing Company, First Solar and Celanese, primarily in finance, strategy and commercial roles. Returning to Arizona to boost its entrepreneurial ecosystem, he joins Tallwave Capital with a strong venture capital network and background in deal sourcing, due diligence and fund strategy.
Current portfolio investments of the Tallwave Commercialization Fund I include:
Shelvspace, Scottsdale, Arizona: Tallwave Capital led the recent $1M seed round of this Consumer Packaged Good industry’s cloud-based selling platform that provides wholesalers a better way to get products onto store shelves.
Alpha Moda Lab, Palo Alto, California: A proprietary end-to-end system that uses a mobile app to analyze unique skin tone/conditions and blend custom beauty products to order in 24 hours.
Iris PR, Phoenix, Arizona: A comprehensive PR software that has been thoughtfully developed by PR pros to help PR teams large and small consolidate, manage, share and track their most important data.
Local ID, Los Angeles, California: A centralized local intelligence platform built for marketers that provides multi-unit brands with the data, tools and process needed to revolutionize their local marketing playbook.
Pure Chat, Scottsdale, Arizona: Helps businesses increase sales and customer happiness with a clean, easy-to-use live chat tool for their website and sales team.
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