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Theresa Mazzullo, who has been instrumental in growing venture capital firm Excell Partners from a $2 million early-stage investor to one that manages more than $80 million in assets, plans to hand off the CEO reins in January.
Mazzullo believes it is the right time for the leadership transition to Rami Katz, chief operating officer at Excell, who has worked with her for more than 10 years. She notes his “vision and passion to take Excell to the next level.”
Katz currently manages Excell’s due diligence and investment processes. Before his role at Excell, he was director of technology commercialization at High Tech Rochester, which evolved into NextCorps.
When Excell started in 2006, Mazzullo recalls, it entered an environment with no access to capital for high-tech startups to launch and grow.
“Excell became the only seed-stage venture capital available in Upstate New York,” she says.
The Excell team worked hard to bring attention to the fledgling businesses in the region.
“Excell was responsible for getting legislation passed that established the first state-supported seed fund in New York,” Mazzullo says. “Under the supervision of Empire State Development and partnerships with Goldman Sachs, a $35.9 million fund-of-funds was created. That fund became the catalyst for NY Ventures, a $100 million fund managed by ESD today.”
The region has a much more robust entrepreneurial ecosystem today than when Excell began, she says.
“This level of support is essential for accelerating the growth of high-tech startups,” Mazzullo says. “Also, Excell has and continues to refine its due diligence process such that we are better today at identifying high-potential deals. As a result, we are able to attract co-investment capital from nationally recognized VCs and corporate venture funds.”
According to Excell’s latest annual report, 15 of its portfolio companies have achieved successful exits, returning more than $12 million to the fund’s limited partners. Since Excell’s launch, companies that have received funding together employ 431 full-time employees with an average annual salary of $92,000.
Though Excell has been successful in attracting follow-on capital to companies ($701 million in 2024), Mazzullo would like to see more of that, in addition to a deeper talent pool.
“The region still struggles to get experienced management talent to wrap around the tech startups,” she says. “We could also use more follow-on capital after the seed investment.”
Mazzullo is expected to remain active in economic development. Officials say she will work from the outside in to raise the profile of entrepreneurship. Well-known for her community involvement, Mazzullo is a former banker who was also president and principal of Epic Advisors, a retirement plan services company acquired by NBT Bancorp in 2005. In business circles, it’s common to see her connecting with influencers in Rochester and beyond.
For now, Mazzullo has her eye on optics, photonics and imaging as the next driver of innovation in Upstate New York.
“Of the many assets we have in our region, we are particularly strong in optics, photonics and imaging, which has wide-ranging impact in nearly every aspect of our lives,” she says. “While we may not be ready at this precise moment, we do have a clear line of sight on what it is going to take to be ready.”
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor.
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