Venture First
Mark Crane has a diverse work experience spanning several industries. Mark started their career as the Senior VP Investor Relations, Partner at Denton Floyd Real Estate Group in 2022. Prior to that, they worked as the VP Investor Relations at Venture First from 2019. At Venture First, they were involved in various investment opportunities and served as a General Partner in two funds. Before that, Mark was a General Partner at DF Real Estate Funds, where they acquired and operated multi-family apartments. Mark also worked as a General Partner at Mass Storage Fund, where they focused on acquiring and developing storage properties. Additionally, they co-founded and served as the Chief Administrator of the Sequel Fund, an early-stage seed fund. Mark also has experience as the Chief Operating Officer at SentryHealth, where they raised funds for the company and oversaw its transition to a technology platform provider. Furthermore, they served on the Board of Directors at Stonewood Financial and held the position of Chief Development Officer at MD2U. Mark has also been involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, co-founding Enterprise Angels and serving as the Executive Director of Enterprise Corp at Greater Louisville Inc. Mark also worked at the University of Louisville as an Entrepreneur in Residence, providing mentorship and teaching entrepreneurship courses.
Mark Crane attended Purdue University from 1982 to 1986, where they obtained a Bachelor's degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering. In 2013, they also completed Steve Blank's Lean Launchpad Certification, specializing in the Lean Launchpad Methodology. Additionally, they participated in a program called Leadership Louisville at an unspecified time.
Venture First
Venture First is a boutique financial services group focused on empowering entrepreneurs. At its core, our team believes that innovation is the cornerstone of a healthy economy and an improving society. Venture First works tirelessly to provide innovative companies and their investors with the financial and strategic tools to be successful. Its professionals have worked closely with hundreds of cutting-edge companies and have considerable experience working with technology and healthcare companies. Venture First was established in 2009 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. After working extensively with early and growth-stage companies as an investor, advisor, and operator, founder and CEO John Shumate identified a need for high-end valuation and analytics services at reasonable price. With the belief that small companies operating on a shoestring budget deserve the same sophisticated financial services as their larger counterparts, John set out to develop a superior technology platform and analytical bench that could deliver Wall Street quality services at Midwest prices. The result is a specialty financial services firm that caters to high-growth venture-backed companies from Silicon Valley to Research Triangle Park. By leveraging its proprietary set of rapid-fire analytical tools and combining a vast array of quality data, Venture First’s team delivers market-leading services at prices that accommodate most budgets.