Updated:
DFJ Mercury
Mercury Fund partners with ambitious founders transforming markets through breakthrough innovation in AI, blockchain, and other frontier technologies.
DFJ Mercury
Mercury Fund partners with ambitious founders transforming markets through breakthrough innovation in AI, blockchain, and other frontier technologies. The firm is operators first and investors second, providing systems, processes, and resources at the earliest stages of product growth, GTM, and capital formation. It invests in entrepreneurs outside Silicon Valley across industries including financial services, retail and supply chain, healthcare, energy and industrials, construction, manufacturing, and defense.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
1998
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Houston
Corporate office
Houston, TX, United States
Principals
Will Sansom
Managing Director
Blair Garrou
Managing Director
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at DFJ Mercury?
Investment decisions are led by Managing Directors Will Sansom and Blair Garrou, who have been with the firm since it was established in 1998. They evaluate all early-stage opportunities alongside a small partnership team. Sansom and Garrou are the most publicly associated with deal sourcing and portfolio construction.
How does DFJ Mercury source proprietary deal flow?
The firm sources deals through its deep ties to the Gulf Coast industrial and energy ecosystem, combined with its network from the Draper Fisher Jurvetson affiliation. This dual pipeline generates opportunities in hard-tech sectors that are often underserved by coastal venture firms. Many investments come from referrals by technical experts or operating executives in Houston and Austin.
What investment stages does DFJ Mercury typically target?
DFJ Mercury targets seed and Series A rounds, with some follow-on participation in later stages. The firm's sweet spot is early-stage technology companies with capital-efficient business models tied to real-world industrial applications. Minimum and maximum check sizes are not publicly disclosed.
Which sectors does DFJ Mercury explicitly focus on?
The firm focuses on enterprise software, energy technology, aerospace/space, and industrial automation. It has a stated interest in companies that intersect software with physical infrastructure, such as power-grid AI and space robotics. Sectors outside this industrial-tech scope are not pursued.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on venture capital firms?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: