Immad Akhund
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20VC Exclusive: Mercury Founder Launches First $26M Fund with Immad Akhund
After closing a $26 million institutional fund with a 60/40 split of Fund of Funds and entrepreneur limited partners, Harry expanded his portfolio strategy to target 60 diverse companies while integrating Yash Doshi as a full-time operating partner. Drawing on over 350 prior angel investments and lessons from successes like TrueBill and the regret of rejecting Scale AI, Harry advocates for a "decahorn" hunting approach that prioritizes serial founders and accepts high valuations to preserve optionality. Looking forward, the fund is shifting allocations toward hard tech and AI while positioning Mercury for a $2.5 trillion integrated banking market, with plans to scale the portfolio to 150 companies and potentially lead seed rounds.
- a16z32 min
Competing in a Crowd of Incumbents with Mercury's Immad Akhund
Imad Akhund launched Mercury in 2017 as a "Minimum Delightful Product" to replace stagnant banking infrastructure for early-stage startups, utilizing a lean team of nine to build a platform backed by a16z and 60 angel investors. The company secured its initial traction through organic, founder-led sales and a free pricing model that generates revenue via interest and treasury fees, specifically targeting immigrant founders with robust wire transfer capabilities. After overcoming critical infrastructure failures during its first six weeks, Mercury established a repeatable sales process by prioritizing engineering-led product development and a groundswell of demand over traditional enterprise sales tactics.