Verte Opportunity Fund Launches to Couple Sophisticated Investors with High Growth Startup Companies
COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 25, 2019
Verte Opportunity Zone Fund launches to couple sophisticated investors with high growth startup companies. The fund has been authorized to raise up to $100 Million focusing on disruptive and innovative businesses. That includes Life Sciences, Technology, Cannabis, Healthcare and Biotech companies with proven business models in industry sectors where they believes the upside potential is enormous. The VerteOZ Fund is a Venture Capital Opportunity Zone fund. It is founded by entrepreneurs to invest in entrepreneurs. VerteOZ’s business insight comes from over four and a half decades of first hand execution and investment experience along with a deep and wide network of relationships, more so than just capital to each investment is what it brings to the table. Their business model, which is supported by experience in prior funds, is that entrepreneurs favor other entrepreneurs as investors. Their executive team has a proven track record of exits, generating above average returns to their investors, and experience in portfolio fund management with assets in excess of $1 Trillion.
“We believe the key to out-performance throughout the venture cycle is to leverage expertise and remain disciplined. Reactionary investment strategies that change with the cycle have led many venture investors to experience poor performance,” said VerteOZ CEO, Len Mills. “The VerteOZ Fund addresses these industry dynamics by maintaining a responsible fund size, focusing on early stage, long-standing manager relationships, investing in every vintage year, and carefully conducting diligence on each investment.”
The VerteOZ Fund is looking for “High Growth” businesses that address targeted consumer needs by producing innovative products and services. These start-ups and speed-ups are disruptive social impact companies that will create future recurring revenue streams and leverage technology to create natural barriers to entry.
About CEO Dr. Leonard Mills
Dr. Leonard (Len) Mills has over 30 years of experience as an investment manager of large and small portfolios. His previous employment includes positions at the Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae, Wells Fargo, privately held funds, and as a adjunct professor. Len holds a B.S. in Mathematics, a Ph.D. in Economics, is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds the Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF).
Len spent over 15 years as Head of Portfolio Analytics and Research for Fannie Mae’s direct portfolio, which peaked at over $1.5 trillion in assets under management. After leaving Fannie in 2005, he was a Principal in Unison Investment Management that managed two funds: a private real estate equity fund and a leveraged interest rate derivatives fund. In 2010, he joined Wells Fargo’s Corporate Risk group as a Head of Model Risk. Len started his own registered investment advisory business, PI Analytics Investment Adviser, in 2016. PI Analytics specializes in investing in alternative, hard-to-value assets that require expert knowledge to manage.
About Opportunity Zone Investing
Introduced by the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, Opportunity Zones are census tracts designated by state governments based on their lower income demographics. The Program was created to incentivize investment within these communities by providing material tax benefits to U.S. investors who re-invest any form of capital gains into Opportunity Zone Funds. Investing in qualified Opportunity Zone Funds allow U.S. investors to (1) defer taxes on the original capital gain until the end of 2026, (2) reduce the amount of deferred taxes owed by up to 15%, and (3) eliminate tax on capital gains from the re-investment if held for 10 years. The Fund, in turn, must investment in qualified real estate or businesses within the OZ.
Dr. Mills believes that Investing in a OZ fund that fuels start-up businesses will bring substantial benefits to all concerned. “Entrepreneurs are typically starving for capital to launch and expand their startups. Investors want to invest in these companies because of their high-growth potential and the material tax benefits provided by the new legislation. These start-ups will bring permanent jobs and valuable life-long skills to the OZ communities. It is a win-win-win. Investors are sitting on significant unrealized capital gains that could go a long way toward jump-starting communities.”
Read the full Press Release here:
