Founding PartnerAuxano Capital Partners
A financial services entrepreneur with 15+ years of global experience, Luca co-founded and spearheaded several successful ventures, specializing and closing highly profitable investments in the SME space. Passionate about contributing to the ongoing transition to a low carbon economy, Luca recently graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business as a Sloan Fellow and is launching an environmental impact private equity firm with one of his fellow classmates.
Luca began his career in London at Bear Stearns working at their equity arbitrage desk, before moving to Medici Capital Management, a prominent Hedge Fund, to manage a $250 million long/short equity portfolio. In 1999, Luca moved to San Francisco and became a Partner at Keating Investments, a boutique merchant bank, where he led the firm’s international investment activities. As part of these efforts, he co-founded and managed their KRM Fund, delivering a 36% IRR, and set up Keating’s office in Shanghai. Keating Investments eventually became a Business Development Company focused on late stage growth investments and was later sold to BDCA Adviser, LLC. Luca exited Keating in the process. After 15 years in finance Luca decided to pursue his entrepreneurial aspirations with the launch of MIXR, an innovative online and offline startup selling affordable luxury products to middle-class women in China. MIXR raised a first round of funding and was sold to a competitor in 2013.
Returning to the Bay Area to pursue new opportunities in business and education, Luca enrolled in Stanford Business School’s Sloan Program and graduated with an MS in Business Management and a Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation. Luca also holds a degree in Economics and Quantitative Studies (Summa Cum Laude) from Venice University, Italy, including a year of scholarship at the University of Warwick, UK.
Luca spends his free time looking after his 3 kids, playing soccer and tennis, and mountain biking.