July 15, 2006
By Jim Stafford, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City-based Virgo Capital Fund LLP has crossed another milestone in raising investment capital, its founding partners said Friday.Virgo Capital recently closed on the second round of capital investment that puts nearly $50 million under its management.Virgo Capital was founded last year by Hemanth Parasuram, 29, and Guhan Swaminathan, 31, two former Goldman Sachs investment bankers. Parasuram is a native of Oklahoma City.The latest round of capital investment was led by McClendon Venture Co. of Oklahoma City, Sammons Capital of Dallas and Kiran C. Patel of Tampa, Fla.Virgo Capital will focus its investment strategies on the financial services industry, Parasuram said."We will do a deal anywhere in the U.S., but our focus area is the southern half of the U.S. including Oklahoma," Parasuram said. "We are not precluding any geography."Swaminathan has relocated to Austin, Texas, to provide the fund a broader number of contacts and investment potential, Parasuram said.The fund will focus its investments in mature companies that may need additional capital for expansion, he said."The way you should think about these businesses is they tend to be vendors to banks and insurance companies and securities firms and so forth," Parasuram said.The partnership has been backed by Oklahoma City financial leaders, including Record Private Equity, an affiliate of MidFirst Bank, which was listed on its Web site athttp://www.virgocapital.com/ as a "cornerstone investor."The firm's advisory board includes Dennis Logue, dean and Fred E. Brown Chair at the Michael F. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma; H.E. "Gene" Rainbolt, chairman of BancFirst; and W. Arthur "Skip" Porter, vice president for technology development at OU."The success of these two bright and tenacious young men in raising a $50 million venture fund is evidence of Oklahoma's ability to turn the corner," Porter said. "It is proof of the possible."Also listed as venture partner on the firm's Web site is Oklahoman Scott Klososky, a veteran entrepreneur and founder and chief executive of webcasts.com , which was sold to iBEAM for $115 million in stock in 2000.
