Adrian Fortino is an engineer-turned-investor who spent time as a powertrain engineer and co-founded startups like Sidecar, later sold to GM, before moving into venture capital focused on industrial transformation and physical AI problems involving labor, precision, and resilience. He's also known for championing the Midwest and Great Lakes as a hub for the next industrial revolution, warning that early exits can weaken local startup ecosystems, and teaching venture capital fundamentals at the University of Michigan.
About their Fund
Sectors
SaaS, AI, Fintech, Data, Enterprise
Rounds
Pre-Seed - Series A
Avg Check Size
$1M–$5M; Pre-Seed $100K
Notable Investments
Mercury is a venture fund that focuses specifically on SaaS and data-platform founders in smaller tech markets outside Silicon Valley and other coastal hubs, betting that founders who understand local industries will lead the next wave of vertical AI companies. It backs this focus with structured support such as the Mercury Method, OpsHygiene, an in-house AI lab called Quicksilver Labs, and liquidity planning that starts 18-24 months before a company is ready for M&A, while also investing in overlooked real-economy sectors like energy, industrials, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and defense.
Other partners at the fund
Notable Fund
Investments
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Sheets they're in
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Sheets they're Fund is in
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Popular Investors
investor name
Active in
Rounds
Avg. Check
Links
Deeptech / Hardware
Robotics
Biotech
+
12
View more in profile...
Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $2M
Unknown
Defense
Deeptech / Hardware
Energy
+
7
View more in profile...
Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$100K - $5M
Unknown
Defense
Deeptech / Hardware
Energy
+
7
View more in profile...
Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$100K - $5M
Unknown
Biotech
Health
Deeptech / Hardware
+
2
View more in profile...
Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$250K - $2M
Unknown
Climate
Deeptech / Hardware
Materials
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4
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $1.5M
Unknown
Deeptech / Hardware
Robotics
Biotech
+
7
View more in profile...
Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $2M
Unknown
Deeptech / Hardware
Robotics
Biotech
+
2
View more in profile...
Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
~$750K
Unknown
Fintech
Deeptech / Hardware
Devtools
+
2
View more in profile...
Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$250K-$1M
Unknown
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