▼ scroll down to learn more ▼
Every once in a great while, something happens in life when things come together in a way that you just know the timing is perfect, the situation is ideal, and it’s time to act quickly.
The General Partner believes that this is one of those times. In today’s world, when politicians from both parties and a technology billionaire all agree and move swiftly to create the QOZ program to create an incentive to deploy capital gains in economically distressed areas of the United States, it is a unique event.
The General Partner organized the Fund as a “Qualified Opportunity Fund” (a “QOF”) to target early-stage, high-potential businesses that operate in federally “Qualified Opportunity Zones” (each, a “QOZ”) and where the investment in such businesses qualify as small business stock under the QSBS exemption, that display the potential to scale effectively, lead a given market with their product or service and offer clear exit strategies. The Fund invests in seed- and growth-stage businesses with experienced operators to help them build and scale their startup while investors also realize maximum tax benefits. Original capital gains tax is deferred for up to 7 years; after 10 years, all new gains created from the Fund is free of federal tax. The Fund’s priority is the growth of investors’ capital and the realization of maximum tax benefits under the Opportunity Zone program.
The Fund intends to deliver market-leading, tax-advantaged investment returns to investors by identifying promising “Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses” (each, a “QOZB”) within the meaning of Section 1400z-2 and that qualify for the QSBS exemption within the meaning of Section 1202, each of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Pearl Fund Limited Partnership has unique access to a diverse portfolio of early-stage deals and a management team with demonstrated expertise and success in venture capital investment. The Fund is specifically targeted for investors who want to leverage the tax benefits on capital gains by investing in Qualified Opportunity Funds, while benefiting from the potential upside of an early stage venture fund with the intent that all Portfolio Companies qualify as QOZBs. However, there can be no assurances that the Fund will meet its return objectives.
The Pearl Fund’s investment objective is to achieve capital appreciation through equity investments in companies located in areas designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones (“Investments”). The Fund intends to deliver market-leading tax-free investment returns (10X+) to investors by identifying promising investment opportunities, providing innovative capital solutions, and actively contributing seasoned management expertise to maximize long-term performance and value. The Fund’s portfolio will focus on early- and growth-stage companies that display the potential to scale effectively and are positioned to dominate a given market, and target an exit potential.
THE FUND’S INVESTMENT STRATEGYUnique Portfolio Access: Access to a diverse portfolio of early-stage deals. Sources for investment opportunities stem from extensive personal networks of investment partners, educational institutions, and corporate entities. The General Partner will emphasize areas where its management team possesses, or has access to, specific industry, market, or technology expertise.
Active Investment Management: The Fund will take an active approach from initial investment through successful exit that leverages the expertise, relationships, and operational experience of the General Partner to reduce risk and maximize value. The General Partner is committed to providing more than just money to drive the success of Fund portfolio companies.
In selecting investments, the General Partner’s management team will identify successfully expanding companies with disruptive technologies and significant market size potential. The General Partner’s management team will deploy investors’ Capital Commitments, as described herein, and will take an active approach to assist Portfolio Companies by leveraging their experience and deep network of industry professionals to provide operational expertise, industry knowledge, and valuable contacts to build value and shorten the path to a successful exit.
The General Partner believes success in early- to expansion-stage Portfolio Companies requires more than just sufficient capital but must also include a focus on great leadership teams, industry experience, actively managed strategy and planning, and clear execution plans. The General Partner believes this comprehensive approach should generate above-market returns.
Targeted investment categories of Portfolio Companies include seed and early stage, pre-revenue, first investments, up to an “A Round” with co-investors as growth capital.
The Fund intends to require a board seat (at least through the respective entity’s A Round) in its portfolio investments and receive preferred equity with a liquidation preference.
Investment Size in Portfolio Companies: The Fund has no specific minimum amount of its Investments in the Portfolio Companies. However, the General Partner anticipates investments ranging in size from approximately $100k to $1 million with a maximum anticipated of $2 million per Investment. The General Partner will seek to invest in Portfolio Companies that it believes are capable of achieving an enterprise value on exit of 10X the initial valuation. The General Partner intends to invest in Portfolio Companies that will be QOZBs. The General Partner’s management team will take an active approach in assisting portfolio company management by providing operational experience and sharing efficient capital deployment practices.
UNIQUE ASPECTS OF AN OPPORTUNITY ZONE / VC FUNDDue to The Pearl Fund’s goal, as a qualified Opportunity Zone fund, of maximizing investors’ tax incentives provided under the TCJA, a number of unique terms apply:
— nesfinancial.com -
The Pearl Fund is a limited liability company that is launching a venture capital fund with a fresh approach, which is to provide OZ investors with access to venture capital investment opportunities that have been identified and evaluated by an experienced team of successful entrepreneurs and investors. All of the Fund’s investments in the Portfolio Companies are intended and will be designed to allow the investors to qualify for the full suite of QOZ tax benefits.
Objective -- The objective of the Fund is to deliver market-leading tax-free investment returns (10X+) to limited partners by identifying promising investment opportunities in multiple Portfolio Companies. The Fund’s management team intends to provide innovative capital solutions and actively contribute seasoned management expertise to maximize long-term performance and value. The Fund’s Investment activity in Portfolio Companies is expected to focus on early- and growth-stage companies that display the potential to scale effectively and are positioned to dominate a given market, and possess the potential for one or more exit opportunities through a sale, refinancing or recapitalization.
Use of Proceeds -- The General Partner intends to deploy the funds raised in this Offering in equity investments in the Portfolio Companies in diversified asset classes including, but not limited to, defense, healthcare, mobile wireless, software, media, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, and consumer products including food and beverage companies, and may also include opportunistic real estate investments from time to time. The General Partner believes these sectors are well positioned to leverage new technologies and financially benefit from enhanced operational efficiencies provided by the Fund.
The Fund will generally invest in early stage Portfolio Companies with high potential business models that the General Partner believes have the potential to grow more than tenfold and will meet all of the qualifications of being a Qualified Opportunity Zone business (“QOZB”). We also intend to invest in growth stage companies that have had their first initial orders or customers, but would benefit from additional investment to support their growth, such as to fulfill large orders and financing to scale effectively.
— www.lexology.com —
The fund's leadership is ideally suited for this nexus of building and scaling high-performing businesses to generate attractive returns and positively impact communities.
General Partner
Mr. Phillips has a unique background ideally suited to lead The Pearl Fund. He has a rare blend of being an early-stage entrepreneur, a global expert on economic development through entrepreneurship, an advisor to Ivy League faculty on how to convert their inventions into viable businesses, and an entrepreneur in several global organizations.
Mr. Phillips has been a part of the founding team of a number of startups; two companies went public, two were acquired and one was sold via an MBO. As a founding CEO, he has raised more than $33M in venture capital. His most recent investment is in a clean-tech company out of Cornell University, which has increased in valuation 280% over the last 4 years and is still growing.
Mr. Phillips has been an advisor on entrepreneurship to global firms including Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, IBM and Arthur Young, as well as charitable organizations focused on entrepreneurship. He has met, vetted and worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs in the USA, as well as in Africa, India, China and Latin America.
Mr. Phillips is a national thought leader on Opportunity Zones Business investing, is the founder of The Pearl Fund, the first OZ Venture fund, and the founder of the national Opportunity Zone Venture Capital Working Group. He frequently speaks at Opportunity Zone conferences and publishes articles on Opportunity Zone business investing. He can be followed on Twitter at @thepearlfund and more detail on his career may be found on his LinkedIn profile at: www.linkedin.com/in/brianpphillips.
Venture Partner
Eve Tetzlaff brings 26 years of experience at McKinsey & Company, Investment Banking and Venture Capital, and roles in strategy, marketing, business development, product development, and retail innovation, for companies from startups to multibillion-dollar corporations. She has worked in industries including dot.com, high tech, healthcare, life sciences, and consumer products and services, both in the United States and abroad. Her breadth of experience across industries and functions makes her a uniquely capable and well-rounded resource for the Pearl Fund’s portfolio of investment companies.
Ms. Tetzlaff began her career at McKinsey & Company in New York, serving clients in media, financial services, and food and beverages. She left McKinsey to join Russia’s largest Russian-owned investment bank (United Financial Group, later acquired by Deutsche Bank) and was on the founding team of one of Russia’s earliest venture capital funds, identifying opportunities and investing into Russia’s emerging consumer sector, and serving as a hands-on management team member of investment targets.
Ms. Tetzlaff has spent more than a decade of her career in startup companies. During the dotcom boom of the mid-to-late 90s, Ms. Tetzlaff moved to Silicon Valley, where she was on the leadership team of two startup companies, responsible for Marketing, Business Development, and Product Development. Ms. Tetzlaff is also a seasoned large company leader, having spent nearly a decade in executive roles at the Estee Lauder Companies. More detail and references can be found on Ms. Tetzlaff’s LinkedIn profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/evetetzlaff/.
- www.cobizmag.com -
The Pearl Fund Limited Partnership (“The Pearl Fund” or the “Fund”), a newly formed limited partnership that is accepting investors that are “accredited” as such term is defined in Rule 501 of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
The General PartnerThe Pearl Fund Management Company, LLC (the “General Partner”), which is owned and governed by Brian P. Phillips. The General Partner will be responsible for providing investment and management services to the Fund, including (a) identifying companies that represent attractive investment opportunities (each, a “Portfolio Company”), (b) conducting due diligence, (c) structuring and negotiating the terms and conditions of investment, (d) monitoring and supporting the progress of each Portfolio Company, and (e) supporting negotiation and management of exits (collectively, “Investments”).
Company ObjectiveThe Fund’s investment objective is to achieve capital appreciation through equity and equity-related Investments in Portfolio Companies located in areas designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones (“QOZs”). The General Partner structured the Fund specifically for investors (the “Limited Partners”) who desire to benefit from the Opportunity Zone and the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) tax incentives while benefiting from the potential significant upside of an early-stage venture fund led by a highly experienced team.
Fund Size$10 Million of limited partnership interests (10, 000,000 Interests at $1.00 per Interest), with capital contributions expected to be payable at the time of subscription or soon thereafter, within each investor’s 180-day compliance window under the QOZ tax laws created by the 2017 H.R. 1, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJA”).
The General Partner may increase the Fund’s size by up to $5 Million. The Fund is offering its Interests on a rolling basis in connection with specific Investments in Portfolio Companies, as discussed herein. The Fund’s per investor Minimum Investment is 100,000 Interests ($100,000), subject to the discretion of the General Partner to adjust such amount on a case-by-case basis.
DISTRIBUTIONSInvestors will be entitled to receive:
The General Partner or its Affiliates shall be entitled to receive the fees and other compensation including, but not limited to, those set forth in the Limited Partnership Agreement. The management fee due will be an annualized rate of 2.0%
The PearlFund Limited Partnership 506(c) Investor Portal provides the opportunity to learn about our investment opportunity. Once registered, you will have:
Once your account is upgraded you will have additional access including:
Please complete the contact form and we will get back to you about any questions you have about our offering.