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Roger Akers is a managing partner of Akers Capital LLC, a venture-capital firm in Fair Oaks that is investing a fund of $15 million and is accumulating a $75 million second fund for investment with emerging-technology firms in Northern California and the rest of the Northwest.
Much of it, he believes, will be invested right here in Sacramento.
"I'm tremendously optimistic about Sacramento's future," he says. "Finally, we have some of the right things in place. We're developing infrastructure generally, across the board, but particularly in the technology area. There are great roots emerging here, for example in the relationships between the biotech arena and local universities. ...
"Some key groups of people getting together and developing growth plans for emerging businesses in the area. ... That's going to pay off, big time, for Sacramento in the long run."
BACKGROUND
* Age: 48
* Native of: Blackfoot, Idaho
* Resident of: Fair Oaks
* Education: B.S., computer science; B.A., accounting; M.B.A., Idaho State University
* Family: Wife, Carole Waterman; daughter Sara, 18; son Scott, 15
THE FIRM
Two funds: "Fund One has $15 million that we're now working with, and we're raising assets for a $75 million Fund Two. ... Luckily, in Fund One, we were able to raise the money just as the market started to turn on high-tech, and we've had the luxury of having money to invest during this downturn. We've been very conservative in investing because of the valuation problems with technology-related companies. But that has also resulted in us making good, high-quality investments in some great companies."
Active management: "The average on...