Salt Lake City, UT—Mercato Partners, a trusted growth capital partner for rapidly scaling companies, today announced the successful final close of its third fund. Mercato Partners Growth Fund III closed with $246 million in commitments from institutional partners, family offices, and individuals, well over the fund’s initial $175 million target.

Mercato Fund III will invest in technology and branded consumer companies that have reached a key inflection point in their growth and are seeking capital to further scale their operations. Fund III has already made two growth investments.

“After experiencing portfolio growth of 69% in 2015, Mercato entered 2016 with optimism and confidence that our foundational investment tenets work across all economic cycles,” said Greg Warnock, co-founder and managing director of Mercato Partners. “Fund III will provide both capital and value-added resources to help companies anticipate and address the challenges inherent in fast growth. The enthusiasm from new and past investors has been overwhelming, and we are grateful for their confidence in our firm and investment strategy.”

Mercato Partners was formed in 2007 with the mission of working with founders and entrepreneurs as an institutional capital partner, providing liquidity for investments to grow businesses faster than they could grow on their own. Mercato’s range of capital invested is flexible and generally falls between $10 million and $20 million; this amount typically fits best for companies with $10 million to $50 million in revenue and an annual revenue growth rate of 50% or more. Mercato will continue to be actively involved on the boards of its portfolio companies, with meaningful minority ownership positions.

Fund III is Mercato’s largest fund since its inception, bringing the firm’s cumulative committed capital to $420.6 million. Mercato Fund I had a fund size of $52.6 million and invested in seven companies, including Skullcandy, MediConnect Global, Untangle, Fusion-io, Control4, Cradlepoint, and Stance. Mercato Fund II had a fund size of $122.0 million and invested in nine companies, including Central Logic, Altitude Digital, Goal Zero, Domo, Alliance Health, Primary Data, Venafi, Galileo, and Sphero.

“We are excited to work with portfolio teams over the coming years in new ways,” continued Warnock. “Our dedicated performance team has expertise in the areas of sales, human capital, and marketing, and can help companies take their products to new customers through new channels and prioritize the opportunities that ultimately drive enterprise value and investment returns.”