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Finance Technology Leverage
Frederick Giarrusso’s FTL is a growth-stage private equity firm funding deep-tech in life sciences, energy, and aerospace.
Finance Technology Leverage
Founded by Frederick Giarrusso, Glen Surles, and Ellika Olga Jackman, FTL operates globally as a growth-stage private equity and advisory firm. The team's shared experience on the Rotary Rocket Company project in mid-1990s Silicon Valley shaped a thesis centered on unlocking capital for capital-intensive, high-duration technology ventures. FTL targets companies in life sciences, industrial technology, energy, and aerospace — four asset classes where regulatory complexity, long R&D cycles, and large upfront costs deter conventional capital. The firm describes its engagement as direct and collaborative, working with management to structure financings even when other investors hesitate. Its global footprint spans the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, reflecting the cross-border nature of the deep-tech supply chains it engages. A five-person leadership team drives the firm from Menlo Park. Frederick Giarrusso serves as CEO, Glen Surles directs finance and risk management, and Ellika Olga Jackman oversees strategy, with Jerry Flaxman leading business development and Dana Al Salem handling regional partnerships. No recent operational milestone within the last 24 months has been publicly reported. FTL’s structural differentiator is its advisory-plus-equity model built around transitional-stage technology companies that struggle to raise conventional capital. By combining financing with strategic guidance — an architecture informed by the founders’ direct experience at Rotary Rocket — the firm operates more like a specialized project-finance shop than a standard growth-equity fund, filtering opportunities by technical readiness and societal impact rather than by IRR alone.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Menlo Park
Corporate office
325 Sharon Park Drive 720, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
Additional offices
San Francisco, CA · London, UK · Dubai, UAE
Principals
Frederick Giarrusso, Ph.D.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Glen Surles
Founder and Director, Finance & Risk Management
Ellika Olga Jackman
Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
Jerry Flaxman
Director, Global Business Development
Dana Al Salem
Partnership & Regional Development
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Finance Technology Leverage?
Strategic and investment direction sits with Frederick Giarrusso as CEO, alongside founders Glen Surles (Finance & Risk Management) and Ellika Olga Jackman (Chief Strategy Officer). The firm’s public materials do not disclose a formal investment committee, but operational leadership appears concentrated in the founding team whose shared experience dates to the 1990s Rotary Rocket project.
How does Finance Technology Leverage source proprietary deal flow?
FTL’s sourcing appears to draw on its global office footprint — San Francisco, London, and Dubai — combined with an advisory-first model that engages companies early in their capital-formation process. The firm emphasizes working with management on project structuring before a funding round materializes, creating an engagement path that doubles as pipeline origination.
Is Finance Technology Leverage structured as a single family office or a private equity manager?
The firm identifies as a private equity and advisory firm, not a family office. It manages third-party capital and describes no single-family wealth source. Its legal structure and fund vehicles are not publicly detailed.
What investment stages does Finance Technology Leverage typically target?
FTL focuses on growth-stage companies and expansion-stage technologies. Its website highlights deep-tech areas where high capital requirements, long holding periods, and technical risk are common — suggesting a tolerance for later-stage venture and project-finance-style growth equity rather than seed or early venture.
Which sectors does Finance Technology Leverage explicitly avoid?
The firm’s published materials list only life sciences, industrial technology, energy, and aerospace as target sectors. Sectors such as consumer internet, enterprise SaaS, fintech, and media are not mentioned, implying they fall outside the stated mandate.
Does Finance Technology Leverage maintain philanthropic structures, and how are they separated?
No philanthropic vehicle or foundation is disclosed in available public materials. The firm’s mission language references societal impact, but there is no evidence of a legally separate impact or grantmaking entity.
What is Finance Technology Leverage’s known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
FTL does not publicly describe co-investment policies or GP relationships. The firm’s advisory-plus-equity model implies a direct relationship with portfolio companies, but whether it syndicates with external fund managers or leads rounds independently has not been publicly clarified.
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.
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