Zen Capital & Mergers

Zen Capital & Mergers

Stephen Stow established the firm in 2015 after earlier corporate and investment activity dating to the 1990s. Wealth traces to the 360networks telecommunications venture and later precious-metals positions, including board roles at Lumina Gold. The office operates from Langley, British Columbia. Core deployment spans hedge funds, venture capital vehicles, and strategic direct investments in lower-middle-market companies. The firm targets long-only precious-metals managers, select hedge funds, and venture opportunities while maintaining a capital-preservation bias. It participates through informal co-investments labeled Telephone Equity and supplies temporary operating support termed Piloting Expertise. Geographic activity includes Western Canada and prior direct investments in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The team remains small and family-led. Daniel Stow serves as chief investment officer after prior portfolio-manager experience at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. No additional offices are disclosed. The firm maintains a separate philanthropic vehicle, Zen Capital and Mergers Philanthropy, that funds education and water projects in British Columbia, the UK, Kenya, Uganda, and Myanmar. No operational events from the last 24 months appear in public materials. The office differs from typical family offices through its explicit preference for manager co-investments where principals hold large personal stakes in their own funds and through its willingness to provide short-term secondments or board services when ownership thresholds are met.