Greg Warnock

Overview

Greg Warnock is an entrepreneur, investor, and mentor with over forty years of experience in building, scaling, and guiding companies across a wide range of industries. He is the co-founder and managing director of Mercato Partners, a growth capital firm that helps expansion-stage companies accelerate growth and achieve meaningful scale. Through Mercato’s disciplined governance, operator-led model, and connector-driven value-creation framework, Greg and his team work closely with founders to strengthen go-to-market strategies, expand leadership capacity, and open pathways into new markets with speed and confidence. Mercato’s portfolio spans technology, healthcare, consumer services, and other high-growth categories, with more than $5 billion in exits reported through 2020. Greg is also the co-founder of Savory Funds, a highly regarded buyout and growth platform in the food and beverage sector. Savory provides emerging restaurant concepts with operational expertise, disciplined capital deployment, and immediate access to a deep operator ecosystem. Under Greg’s leadership, Savory has helped build some of the nation’s fastest-growing restaurant brands by improving unit economics, scaling multi-unit operations, optimizing supply chain and site selection strategies, and preserving culture during rapid expansion. The platform has become one of the most effective restaurant accelerators in the United States, enabling early-stage concepts to grow profitably, consistently, and at a national scale. Earlier in his investment career, Greg co-founded vSpring Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on high-potential companies in the information technology and life sciences sectors. As Managing Director, he helped establish vSpring as one of the Rocky Mountain region’s most influential early-stage investors, backing transformative companies and mentoring founders through the complexities of building scalable businesses. vSpring later merged with Canopy Ventures to form Signal Peak Ventures, continuing the firm’s legacy of early-stage innovation. Greg’s career also includes leadership in the public markets. He served as Chairman and CEO of Mercato Partners Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: MPRA), a publicly traded SPAC that he took public in 2023. Under his leadership, the SPAC completed its business combination with Nuvini Corporation, a SaaS acquirer headquartered in Brazil. The transaction expanded Greg’s global investment footprint and showcased his ability to lead complex, cross-border public-market transactions. Before transitioning into venture and growth capital, Greg spent the early decades of his career founding and operating companies in technology, consumer products, biotechnology, and marketing. He frequently served as a technologist-founder, building products, assembling teams, and guiding businesses from concept to commercial traction.

Investment Focus

• High-growth potential
• Scalable business model
• Experienced management team
• Innovative technology or product
• Strong market demand
• Clear exit strategy

Portfolio Companies