# Blair Garrou

> Blair Garrou is a Series A investor at Rice University (Houston) backing Software and Analytics. See 57 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Rice University](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rice-university)
- Location: Houston, United States
- Total investments: 57
- Last investment: Jul 2026
- Lead investor: 54%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bgarrou/
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/bgarrou
- Website: http://www.mercuryfund.com

Blair Garrou is a Series A investor at Rice University in Houston focused on Software and Analytics. Since the late 90's, Blair Garrou has focused on funding, operating and incubating startup software companies. Blair's current investments include Alert Logic, Donde, Filament Labs, GameSalad, Graphicly, Koupon Media, Molecule Software, ShareThis, and Vistar Media. Blair's previous investments have included Alert Logic (WelshCarson), BlackLocus (Home Depot), Infochimps (CSC), Phurnace Software (BMC Software), FuelQuest (Saracen Energy), Intermat (IHS) and SAT Corporation (Invensys).Blair is a Managing Director of Mercury Fund, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm that makes investments in compelling and novel software and science-based startup opportunities, focusing on technology innovation originating in the U.S. Midcontinent. Since inception in 2005, Mercury has become one of the most active seed-stage venture firms in the Midcontinent, becoming a “go-to” fund for entrepreneurs at the earliest stages of idea generation, company formation, and market execution.Blair is also a co-founder of SURGE Accelerator (Houston, TX), a mentor-driven seed accelerator focused on entrepreneurs seeking to solve the world’s energy problems using software. Blair is also a mentor with seed accelerators The Brandery (Cincinnati, OH) and TechStars (Austin, Chicago, San Antonio). Prior to co-founding Mercury, Blair was the CEO of Intermat (NYSE: IHS), a leader in product information management software; a Principal with Genesis Park, a Houston-based private equity firm; helped launch and was the Director of Operations for the Houston Technology Center, the largest tech incubator in the Southwest, where he led the formation of the Houston Angel Network. Blair received a B.S. in Management from Washington & Lee University.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 8 | 14% |
| Analytics | 6 | 11% |
| Enterprise Software | 6 | 11% |
| SaaS | 3 | 5% |
| Mobile | 3 | 5% |

58 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 16 | 28% |
| Seed | 6 | 11% |
| Series B | 6 | 11% |
| Funding Round | 4 | 7% |
| Series C | 3 | 5% |

11 stages tracked in total.

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Venus Aerospace | Venus Aerospace is a space company that provides an innovative approach to hypersonic transportation. Venus Aerospace is a startup aerospace company focused on engineering the future of hypersonic flight. We are making one-hour global transport possible to connect the world and make it safer.The company is an expert team of PhDs, rocketscientists, and engineers taking on the biggest challenges in aerospace at Mach 9 speed. The company also takes pride in being moms and dads, military veterans, and BBQ enthusiasts. | $91M | Series B | Jul 08, 2026 |  |
| Cart.com | Cart.com is the provider of comprehensive commerce and logistics solutions that unify commerce operations across channels and capabilities, enabling B2C and B2B companies to operate seamlessly across channels and sell and fulfill anywhere their customers are. Cart.com drives powers digital and physical commerce operations for over 6,000 customers,including some of the most beloved consumer brands and most complex B2B organizations. With over 1,000 employees, a team of AI and data scientists and 14 warehouses nationwide, our scale allows us to support middle market and enterprise level companies across industries. | $180M | Venture - Series Unknown | Mar 04, 2026 |  |
| Collide | Collide is an energy industry knowledge-sharing platform that is driven by the community. An exclusive forum for discussing specific technical knowledge that brings together thousands of engineers, geoscientists, and field operators. | $5M | Seed | Apr 15, 2025 |  |
| Brassica | Brassica Finance develops an investment infrastructure for private securities and digital assets. Its API-forward solutions are designed to seamlessly integrate with the existing infrastructure of the investment platform. | $8M | Seed | Apr 11, 2023 |  |
| ReturnLogic | ReturnLogic is a developer of an automation platform intended to make better marketing decisions and prevent costly product returns. Its platform helps brands give their clients an easy returns process while automating workflows for their customer service and warehouse teams, thereby enabling businesses to optimize their product returns strategy.The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. | $8.5M | Series A | Aug 09, 2022 |  |
| Spruce | Spruce develops a platform that enables individuals to receive services in their homes through a mobile app. Its services range from full housekeeping to a quick tidy up or a dog walk for a furry friend. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. | $26M | Series B | Jul 19, 2022 |  |
| Cart.com | Cart.com is the provider of comprehensive commerce and logistics solutions that unify commerce operations across channels and capabilities, enabling B2C and B2B companies to operate seamlessly across channels and sell and fulfill anywhere their customers are. Cart.com drives powers digital and physical commerce operations for over 6,000 customers,including some of the most beloved consumer brands and most complex B2B organizations. With over 1,000 employees, a team of AI and data scientists and 14 warehouses nationwide, our scale allows us to support middle market and enterprise level companies across industries. | $98M | Series B | Aug 11, 2021 |  |
| Molecule Software | Molecule Software develops commodity trading software. It offers Molecule, energy software with features such as physical inventory support, reconciliation, market data download capabilities, and prototype of market data analytics. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Houston, Texas. | $12M | Series A | May 06, 2021 |  |
| Cart.com | Cart.com is the provider of comprehensive commerce and logistics solutions that unify commerce operations across channels and capabilities, enabling B2C and B2B companies to operate seamlessly across channels and sell and fulfill anywhere their customers are. Cart.com drives powers digital and physical commerce operations for over 6,000 customers,including some of the most beloved consumer brands and most complex B2B organizations. With over 1,000 employees, a team of AI and data scientists and 14 warehouses nationwide, our scale allows us to support middle market and enterprise level companies across industries. | $25M | Series A | Apr 15, 2021 |  |
| Topl | Topl is an impact technology economy empowering businesses and corporations to unlock the value of their positive impact. Topl empowers the monetization of impact verified on the blockchain. The Topl Blockchain can support projects across borders and industries. | $3M | Seed | Dec 21, 2020 |  |

10 of 57 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [DFJ Mercury](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dfj-mercury-894f) — VC Fund, 12 deals together
- [Mercury Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mercury-fund) — VC Fund, 12 deals together
- [Access Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/access-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [OCA Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/oca-ventures) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [500 Global](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/500-startups) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Dundee Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dundee-venture-capital) — VC Fund, 5 deals together

## About Rice University

VC Fund · Houston, United States

Rice University is a private research university that focuses on providing undergraduate education services.The university is organized into eleven residential colleges and eight schools of academic study including the Wiess School of Natural Sciences, the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the School of Social Sciences, and the School ofHumanities. Graduate programs are offered through the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, School of Architecture, Shepherd School of Music, and Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. Rice University students are bound by the strict Honor Code, which a uniquely student-run Honor Council enforces.The university is noted for its applied science programs in artificial heart research, structural chemical analysis, signal processing, space science, and nanotechnology. It was ranked first in the world in materials science research by the Times Higher Education (THE) in 2010. The university is also noted for its entrepreneurial activities. It has been recognized as one of the top-ranked business incubators in the world by the Stockholm-based UBI Index for both 2013 and 2014.Rice University is a member of the Association of American Universities. Currently, it has approximately 3,900 undergraduates and 2,600 graduate students from the U.S. and 76 countries or regions. It was established in 1912 and was named after William Marsh Rice, an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University.

5 contacts available at Rice University.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Allison Thacker | President, Rice Management Company & Chief Investment Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/allison-thacker |
| George McLendon | Provost | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/george-mclendon-2 |
| Mary Lynn Fernau | Director, Executive and International Programs | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mary-lynn-fernau |
| Aydin Babakhani | Associate Professor | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aydin-babakhani |
| Blair Garrou | Adjunct Professor of Management, Jones Graduate School of Business | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/blair-garou |

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## FAQ

### What does Blair Garrou invest in?

Blair Garrou invests primarily in Software, Analytics and Enterprise Software startups, most often at Series A and Seed stage. Most of the 57 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Blair Garrou last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Blair Garrou closed in Jul 2026. Shizune tracks 57 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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