Private Equity Management
Sun Mountain Capital offers a full suite of private equity services to our clients, including fund of funds, direct investment management, and unlike the majority of our competitors, unique regional-focused program services. In all cases, Sun Mountain develops customized private equity programs that meet the unique needs of our clients, some of the most demanding public and private institutions in country.
Fund of Funds
Sun Mountain has deep experience as fund investors and our services include program creation (including assisting clients’ first foray into private equity fund investing), process and policy development, allocation planning, robust fund due diligence, and active, quantitative-driven monitoring services. A crucial component of any fund of funds program is access to the top managers. Sun Mountain has an extremely well-developed network of funds that has been built over the team’s extensive private equity experience. Together, the Sun Mountain team possesses over $4 billion in private equity transaction experience across all facets of the asset class.
Direct Investments
Sun Mountain’s direct investment programs are a natural complement to the Firm’s fund investing activities. One particularly unique feature of Sun Mountain is that our team’s background includes deep direct investment expertise. On a per investment basis, we have experience managing direct company investments ranging from $250,000 to $10,000,000 and hold board or observer positions on 80% of the companies in which we invest. We eschew the traditional notions of passive co-investment roles, opting instead to provide value additive advice to company management, original deal flow, and utilization of our deep networks to contacts in industry, finance, accounting and legal. We believe this active role and stewardship of client capital remains the strongest long term determinant of program success.
Regional Programs
Sun Mountain’s regional services are a distinct business line yet leverage the firm’s deep experience in both fund investing and direct investment management in order to meet the unique needs of a particular region. For this reason, the Firm is widely regarded as a leading provider of private equity services to regional investment programs. The Firm’s principals have established successful regional private equity programs in Utah, Ohio, New Mexico, and Mexico. Our experience includes starting programs from scratch (including developing policies, procedures and allocation strategies) as well as taking over faltering programs and turning them around through superior investment selection and monitoring. In each case, we are committed to establishing an “on the ground” presence to ensure a high level of service to the client and the community in which we serve. Through our years of experience managing regional programs, we have developed strong relationships with many private equity funds active in specific geographic areas enabling our clients to deepen the local capital pool and attract external investments to particular geographic areas, increasing the overall vibrancy of a region’s venture community. Within our existing regional programs, Sun Mountain and its principals have co-invested within those regions alongside top tier national private equity firms including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Battery Ventures, Granite Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, Aurora Capital and many others.
Portfolio
American Clay, Inc.
American Clay manufactures and distributes clay-based earth plaster products. The Company’s products are practical, environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional plasters. American Clay products are all natural, non-toxic finish plasters for commercial and residential applications. Between 65% and 70% of American Clay material is formulated with recycled aggregate, which enhances the sustainability and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings for their products. American Clay is creating a branded portfolio of sustainable and healthy building materials.
Aspen Avionics, Inc.
Aspen Avionics specializes in bringing the most advanced technology and capability from the commercial and business aviation markets into general aviation cockpits. The company’s products increase situational awareness and reduce pilot workload, making it even easier and safer to fly in both VFR (Visual Flight Rules) and IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) conditions.
Exagen Diagnostics, Inc.
Exagen Diagnostics discovers, validates and commercializes small sets of genomic markers and provides prognostic reagents for commercial laboratory testing and for pharmaceutical use in clinical trials. In leading the development of a new class of prognostic testing options, Exagen is working to create panels of tests that define a new standard of accuracy and performance.
Growstone, LLC
Growstone patented process takes glass destined for landfills and through a patented technology reconditions it; creating functional, innovative, and cost-effective horticultural products. Growstone manufactures substrates and aggregates engineered to meet the specific needs of different horticultural communities including floriculture, greenhouse and nursery, and commercial hydroponics. Products can be used in hydroponics systems and as a soil amendment, in commercial, container garden, and landscape applications.
JackRabbit Systems
JackRabbit Systems develops online software for destination and travel portal websites. The Company’s key software is a search engine gathers rate and availability information directly from Lodging Properties websites, displays it for property selection and then redirects consumers to the actual property websites to complete the booking.
Lumidigm, Inc.
Lumidigm is a biometric company dedicated to enabling convenient, secure, and reliable identification and verification. Lumidigm’s sensors are quick, easy to use, and can be integrated into any solution that requires identity management in the real world. Lumidigm provides its biometric identity management for civil ID, point-of-sale, time & attendance, physical and logical access, and portable electronic device applications.
NanoMR, Inc.
NanoMR is a diagnostic medical device company currently developing a proprietary system for real time, ultrasensitive detection of diagnostic targets in biological samples that can deliver unprecedented sensitivity and speed-to-detection in a wide variety of clinically relevant diagnostic applications. The first application of NanoMR’s technology is the real time detection of bacteria in whole blood which will allow physicians to prescribe appropriate treatments faster, thus dramatically improving patient outcomes and lowering the cost of care.
Skorpios Technologies
Skorpios Technologies is a silicon photonics company focused on bringing the economy and scale of the silicon industry to the optical communications market. Skorpios offers a new generation of opto-electronic modules that will enable the next generation communications ecosystem.
Sundrop Fuels, LLC
Sundrop Fuels has developed a patented technology, Solar Reduction of Carbon Dioxide (SOLAREC™), which produces fuels while simultaneously producing electricity from free and renewable solar energy. SOLAREC™ is an environmentally sustainable and cost effective way of producing fuel for use in fuel cells and industrial processes, or for powering vehicles and homes.
Teucrium Trading, LLC, LLC
Teucrium Trading, LLC is an issuer of single commodity focused next generation Exchange Traded Products in the agricultural and energy sectors. Teucrium designs investment vehicles that offer liquidity, transparency and capacity in single-commodity investing to investors and hedgers in the popular and highly liquid ETP format.
