Greg Warnock

Greg Warnock, Ph.D., is an entrepreneur, technologist, and investor with over 40 years of experience building, scaling, and guiding companies across technology, consumer products, biotechnology, healthcare, and marketing. He co-founded Mercato Partners in 2007 alongside Alan Hall, establishing the firm as a leading growth capital platform based in Utah's Silicon Slopes. Prior to Mercato, Greg co-founded and served as Managing Director of vSpring Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on information technology and life sciences in the Rocky Mountain region. vSpring later merged with Canopy Ventures to form Signal Peak Ventures. Throughout his career, Greg has played a principal role in more than 20 mergers and acquisitions, developing deep expertise in evaluating markets, executing sophisticated transactions, and guiding companies through phases of strategic growth, transformation, and exit.

Beyond Mercato's core venture and growth funds, Greg co-founded Savory Fund, a buyout and growth platform specializing in the food and beverage sector. Savory provides restaurant concepts with operational expertise, capital deployment, and access to an operator network, focusing on unit economics, multi-unit scaling, and supply-chain optimization. Savory closed its first fund at $100 million in 2020, Fund II at $100 million in 2021, and launched a third fund targeting $200 million. Greg also founded Junto Partners in 2008, an entrepreneurship education initiative that trains and mentors aspiring entrepreneurs, and served as Chairman of the Community Foundation of Utah, supporting initiatives in education, entrepreneurship, and community development.

In 2024, Greg transitioned the CEO role at Mercato Partners to Joe Kaiser, a Managing Director and long-time member of the Investment Committee, while continuing his leadership as Executive Chairman. He remains fully engaged in investment oversight, strategy, and mentorship. Greg has been recognized as Utah Business Mentor of the Year, received the Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award from Ernst & Young, and was named one of Utah Business's Outstanding Directors. Outside of investing, he is a motorsports enthusiast who collects and restores muscle cars, a licensed pilot, and participates in boating, motorcycling, and paragliding.

Mercato Partners targets expansion-stage technology and branded consumer companies that have reached a key inflection point in their growth and are seeking capital to further scale operations. The firm employs a disciplined governance, operator-led model, and connector-driven value-creation framework, working closely with founders to strengthen go-to-market strategies, expand leadership capacity, and open pathways into new markets. Mercato's portfolio spans technology, healthcare, consumer services, and other high-growth categories, with a particular affinity for companies based outside traditional venture hubs (especially the Mountain West region).

Key focus areas include:

• Enterprise SaaS & Cloud Infrastructure -- workflow automation, data platforms, security
• Healthcare Technology -- digital health, benefits administration, gastrointestinal care, behavior-driven engagement
• Consumer Brands -- premium consumer products with strong brand identity and direct-to-consumer models
• Fintech -- lending marketplaces, payroll data infrastructure, payments
• AI / Deep Learning Infrastructure
• Food & Beverage (via Savory Fund) -- restaurant concepts with scalable unit economics

• Domo -- IPO (NYSE: DOMO); cloud-based business intelligence platform
• Skullcandy -- IPO (NASDAQ: SKUL); later acquired by Mill Road Capital
• Fusion-io -- Acquired by SanDisk Corporation
• Cradlepoint -- Acquired by Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC)
• Galileo -- Acquired by SoFi (NASDAQ: SOFI)
• Control4 -- Acquired by Snap One (NASDAQ: SNPO)
• Venafi -- Acquired by Thoma Bravo
• SaltStack -- Acquired by VMware (NYSE: VMW)
• Goal Zero -- Acquired by NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG)
• Cloud Elements -- Acquired by UiPath (NYSE: PATH)
• MediConnect Global -- Acquired by Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ: VRSK)
• Untangle -- Acquired by Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET)
• Ephesoft -- Acquired by Kofax, Inc.
• About Healthcare -- Acquired by Rubicon Technology Partners

• Fund I: 7 companies (Skullcandy, MediConnect Global, Untangle, Fusion-io, Control4, Cradlepoint, Stance)
• Fund II: 9 companies (Central Logic, Altitude Digital, Goal Zero, Domo, Alliance Health, Primary Data, Venafi, Galileo, Sphero)
• Fund III: $246 million final close (2016), targeting expansion-stage technology and branded consumer companies