Direct Investments

Materials specialist joins Mercia team

Mercia Technologies PLC has appointed Bill Yost as Investment Manager.

Bill, pictured, brings over 20 years of hands-on, international experience of leading successful early stage technology businesses and consulting to a wide range of technology companies. He will be based in Mercia’s headquarters in Henley-in-Arden as part of the Electronics, Materials, Manufacturing/Engineering Investment Team. His role will include identifying investment opportunities and supporting early-stage businesses within the portfolio, in particular those in the hardware and materials sectors.

Born and raised in the US, Bill’s qualifications span physics, electrical engineering and finance. He founded Electrolytic Ozone, a cleantech firm that was sold to Franke Foodservice Systems, and GelSight, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinout providing surface measurement tools. In addition to the US and UK, he also worked in Japan while designing display systems for Sony Electronics. Prior to joining Mercia, he was head of the Technology Innovation Management team at PA Consulting.

Bill says: “Joining Mercia is an exciting opportunity to work with founders of disruptive technology companies to support them grow their businesses.Having founded and led start-ups myself, I have lived many of the challenges faced by early stage businesses and hope to draw on this experience to identify and support the next generation of materials and hardware companies.”

Dr Mark Volanthen, who leads Mercia’s Electronics, Materials, Manufacturing/Engineering Investment Team, adds: “Bill’s appointment will add further depth to our team of sector specialists. His blend of technical knowledge and commercial expertise is ideally suited to assess new technologies, identify high growth businesses and work with them to help them scale and grow.”