Originally expected to raise $150 million, Mercury's latest fund is the largest raised to date. Photo via mercuryfund.com

Houston-based VC secures oversubscribed $160M fund for early-stage startups

show me the money

A Houston venture capital firm has announce big news of its latest fund.

Mercury, founded in 2005 to invest in startups not based in major tech hubs on either coast, closed its latest fund, Mercury Fund V, at an oversubscribed amount of $160 million. Originally expected to raise $150 million, Fund V is the largest fund Mercury has raised to date.

“We are pleased by the substantial support we received for Fund V from both new and existing investors and thank them for placing their confidence in Mercury,” Blair Garrou, co-founder and managing director of Mercury Fund, says in a news release. “Their support is testament to the strength of our team, proven investment strategy, and the compelling opportunities for innovation that exist in cities across America.”

The fund's limited partners include new and existing investors, including endowments at universities, foundations, and family offices. Mercury reports that several of these LPs are based in the central region of the United States where Mercury invests. California law firm Gunderson Dettmer was the fund formation counsel for Mercury.

Fresh closed, Fund V has already made investments in several companies, including:

  • Houston-based RepeatMD, a patient engagement and fintech platform for medical professionals with non-insurance reimbursed services and products
  • Houston and Cheyenne Wyoming-based financial infrastructure tech platform Brassica, which raised its $8 million seed round in April
  • Polco, a Madison, Wisconsin-based polling platform for local governments, school districts, law enforcement, and state agencies
  • Chicago-based MSPbots, a AI-powered process automation platform for small and mid-sized managed service providers

Mercury's investment model is described as "operationally-focused," and the firm works to provide its portfolio companies with the resources needed to grow rapidly and sustainably. Since 2013, the fund has contributed to creating more than $9 billion of enterprise value across its portfolio of over 50 companies.

“Over the past few years there has been a tremendous migration of talent, wealth and know-how to non-coastal venture markets and this surge of economic activity has further accelerated the creation of extraordinary new companies and technology," says Garrou. "As the first venture capital firm to have recognized the attractiveness of these incredible regions a dozen years ago, we are excited to continue sourcing new opportunities to back founders and help these cities continue to grow and thrive.”

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Houston medical device startup implants artificial heart in first human patient

big win

Heart health tech company BiVACOR and The Texas Heart Institute announced that they successfully implanted the company's first Total Artificial Heart in a human at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in the TMC.

The milestone is part of an FDA-approved early feasibility study that will test the safety and performance of the TAH device, which is based on a magnetically levitated rotor that takes over functions of a failing heart while a patient is awaiting a heart transplant, according to a statement from the organizations.

The "bridge-to-transplant" device could support an active adult male, as well as many women and children suffering from severe biventricular heart failure or univentricular heart failure.

"With heart failure remaining a leading cause of mortality globally, the BiVACOR TAH offers a beacon of hope for countless patients awaiting a heart transplant,” Dr. Joseph Rogers, president and CEO of THI and national principal investigator on the research, says in a statement. “We are proud to be at the forefront of this medical breakthrough, working alongside the dedicated teams at BiVACOR, Baylor College of Medicine, and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center to transform the future of heart failure therapy for this vulnerable population.”

BiVACOR received approval from the FDA for the early feasibility study in late 2023 and has four other patients enrolled in the study. At the time the study was approved, 10 hospitals were enrolled as possible sites.

“I’m incredibly proud to witness the successful first-in-human implant of our TAH. This achievement would not have been possible without the courage of our first patient and their family, the dedication of our team, and our expert collaborators at The Texas Heart Institute ... our TAH brings us one step closer to providing a desperately needed option for people with end-stage heart failure who require support while waiting for a heart transplant. I look forward to continuing the next phase of our clinical trial,” Daniel Timms, PhD, founder and CTO of BiVACOR, adds.

About 100,000 patients suffering from severe heart failure could benefit from BiVACOR’s artificial heart, the company says. Globally, only about 6,000 heart transplants are performed each year, while 26 million people worldwide are affected by heart failure.

BiVACOR was founded in 2008 and maintains its headquarters in Houston, along with offices in Huntington Beach, California, and Brisbane, Australia.

To date, the company has raised nearly $50.8 million, according to CB Insights. The company raised $18 million in 2023, and $22 million in 2021.

Earlier this year, BiVACOR named a new CEO in Jim Dillon, a longtime executive in the medical device sector.

Last summer, Rogers joined the Houston Innovators Podcast to share his excitement with THI's innovations.


Here's how much it takes to earn a top 1 percent salary in Texas

wealthy lifestyle

With two Houston-area neighbors cashing in among the most wealthy suburbs in America, Houstonians may be wondering how much money they need to make to secure a place in the top one percent of earners. According to a new study from SmartAsset, the pre-tax salary required to be considered one of the highest earners in Texas amounts to $762,090 in 2024.

Texas has the 14th highest pre-tax salary needed to be considered in the top one percent of earners in the U.S. for the second year in a row. Texas' income threshold is not too far off from the national average, which is $787,712.

The study further revealed 126,128 Texans are within the top one percent of earners. For more context, the U.S. Census Bureau says over 30 million people lived in Texas as of 2022, and Houston's population grew to 2.3 million people in 2023.

Connecticut continues to lead the nation with the highest income threshold required to be in the top one percent, with residents needing to make over $1.15 million pre-tax.

To determine the income needed to be in the top one percent of earners in each state, SmartAsset analyzed 2021 IRS data for individual tax filers, which is the most recent year where data was available. Income data was then adjusted to June 2024 dollars.

Compared to SmartAsset's 2023 report, Texans now need to make $130,241 more in 2024 to maintain their status as one of the highest earners in the state. Last year, the income threshold was $631,849.

If Houstonians aim to be within the top five percent of earners in Texas, the pre-tax income threshold is drastically lower, at $280,676. However, for many Houston residents, achieving even a "middle class" status means making between $40,280 and $120,852 a year.

Meanwhile, the study says the median income in the U.S. comes out to roughly $75,000, and half of Americans are making even less than that. The income disparity is plainly obvious when high-income earners make (at a minimum) 10 times more than the national median income.

The report goes on to say top-earning Americans make up a "disproportionately large part of the tax base," as their income results in paying a 37 percent federal tax bracket rate. (That is, if these high earners are even paying taxes in the first place, considering America's wealthiest are already evading over $150 billion a year in taxes.)

"While state and local level taxes may impact the spread of high earners in those areas, the cost of living can also be drastically different nationwide," the report said. "As a result, what it takes to be considered a top one percent income earner can differ by over $500,000 from state to state."

The top 10 states with the highest thresholds to be considered in the top one percent of earners in the U.S. are:

  • No. 1 – Connecticut ($1,152,254)
  • No. 2 – Massachusetts ($1,113,662)
  • No. 3 – California ($1,035,673)
  • No. 4 – Washington ($989,649)
  • No. 5 – New Jersey ($975,645)
  • No. 6 – New York ($965,645)
  • No. 7 – Colorado ($865,700)
  • No. 8 – Florida ($852,206)
  • No. 9 – Wyoming ($843,121)
  • No. 10 – New Hampshire ($811,098)
The full report can be found on smartasset.com

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.