Venture Capital Fund to Focus on Wireless Start-Ups

Jackson, MS-based GulfSouth Capital Inc. has formed a new venture capital fund, GS Ventures LLC, that will specialize in funding companies involved in wireless and Internet technologies. The new venture fund, headquartered in Jackson, will be headed by two entrepreneurial veterans of advanced wireless messaging and a former McKinsey & Co. senior telecommunications strategist. GS Ventures plans to target early-stage start-ups situated in the under-served southeastern U.S. market.

"From Dallas to DC, this area will become a leading global participant in communications technology, and we want GulfSouth, with the expertise, contacts, and entrepreneurial achievements of its principals, to be influential in this development," said Troy A. Stovall, Gulf South's president and CEO.

The two wireless industry visionaries at GulfSouth's helm are John N. Palmer Sr., GulfSouth's chairman, and Jai P. Bhagat, the company's vice chairman. In 1973, Palmer and Bhagat founded Mobile Communications Corp. of America (MCCA), followed by SkyTel Communications. The former was sold in 1989 to BellSouth, and MCI Worldcom bought SkyTel in 1999.

Stovall comes to GulfSouth from McKinsey & Co.'s Telecom Practice, where he wrote documents on Internet commerce, ISPs, and wireless data.

Also, Jamie Whitehead has returned to Mississippi to join GulfSouth as a senior analyst, following a successful tenure on Wall Street. Additionally, the company has appointed two advisory directors: Andrew Seybold and Dr. Rajendra Singh. Seybold is recognized as a leading authority in wireless technology, and Singh has engaged in a broad range of activities in the wireless communications industry, both in the United States and abroad.

In the near future, GulfSouth plans to announce the formation of a $1 million Angel Incubation Fund providing small capital investments to enable early concept firms to develop their business plans.

"These will often be people who have nothing but an idea," Palmer said.

Offices for GulfSouth and its venture operations are located at 6360 Interstate 55 North, Suite 330, in Jackson.

Edited by Ellen Jensen