Akers Waterman Raises Small Funds –

FAIR OAKS, Calif. – Suburban Sacramento-based Roger Akers recently raised two small funds and is rounding up a third.

As co-founder of Akers, Waterman & Co., Mr. Akers is on the road raising $10 million for California Technology Fund II, which will invest in information technology companies. Akers Waterman invests in companies with at least $1 million in annual revenue. The firm keeps its fund sizes small to better offer specialized products to investors and to build a track record based on discrete funds that have a beginning and an end, Mr. Akers said.

The former owner of data processing company ProData Inc. last year raised separate $5 million vehicles, Northwest Fund I and California Technology Fund I, from individual investors. With those modest funds, Mr. Akers has made investments of $500,000 to $3 million each.

The two separate funds were created to accommodate limited partners who wanted to invest capital in different geographic areas. The funds also have different risk and reward ratios because of their differing investment strategies.

In addition to his Fair Oaks location, Mr. Akers has an office in San Francisco, the home base of Double Impact Corp., a venture catalyst that Mr. Akers co-founded with Michael Gale. Messrs. Akers and Gale both are principals in Akers Waterman, and the Waterman name is a silent partner. The firm also has an office in Boise, Idaho, staffed by an associate who works with the area’s many wealthy potential investors, Mr. Akers said.

Prior to launching Akers Waterman in 1998, Mr. Akers performed due diligence, mostly for major computer system suppliers. At the time, he met numerous high-net-worth individuals and soon realized he had a good perspective on the market and the contacts to create his own firm.

Akers Waterman will make predominantly domestic investments, although the firm is involved in two projects in the Far East, he said, declining to name the companies.