Adrian Fortino

Adrian Fortino is a Managing Director at Mercury, where he leads Mercury's Detroit Office. Prior to joining Mercury, Adrian was the Managing Director of Detroit Innovate and First Step Fund, seed stage investment funds supporting high growth companies based in Southeast Michigan.

Adrian also co-founded three software companies: Sidecar (acq. by GM), ShepherdIS, and FlockTAG. ShepherdIS, the first cloud-based fleet management software platform, was spun out of the University of Michigan Tech Transfer office. Sidecar was the first instant rideshare company paving the way for a new industry.

Prior to his founder time, Adrian was the Manager of Powertrain Development with Ricardo, a global engineering consultancy focusing on the automotive, cleantech, military and industrial sectors.

Adrian sits on the boards of Michigan Founders Fund and Michigan Venture Capital Association. He also teaches venture capital fundamentals courses at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. Adrian received his BSE in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA with High Distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.