Mark F. FitzGerald

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Banc of America Securities (BAS) is the investment banking subsidiary of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC). The firm provides both the domestic and international equity and investment banking markets, and pursues a strategy pioneered by Citigroup that combines corporate lending with investment banking advice and services. They provide high-yield debt underwriting and leveraged finance, in addition to industry coverage groups such as healthcare, media and telecom, financial institutions, real estate and gaming. BAS also does a significant amount of work for Financial Sponsors, or private equity firms, often financing leveraged transactions. Following the strategy of Goldman Sachs, the firm lacks a standalone mergers and acquisitions department, instead employing mergers and acquisitions senior bankers throughout the industry coverage groups. The firm is registered as a broker/dealer with the SEC, is a member of the NYSE, and the NASD. The use of Banc in the BAS's name is indicative of the fact that the company is not a bank, and their deposits and other holdings are not insured by the FDIC.

Hambrecht & Quist Group, Inc. operates as a holding investment bank and provides securities brokerage services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Part of Gartner, Inc., Dataquest, Inc. is an American company that provides accounting software with powerful automations and business intelligence. The company prioritizes customer service by ensuring that their clients can easily reach them through phone calls. Dataquest was acquired by Gartner, Inc. from The Dun & Bradstreet Corp. on August 14, 1996 for $75 million.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (MLPFS) is the SEC-registered broker/dealer subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., ultimately held by Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). The firm was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in New York City. In 2010, Banc of America Securities LLC merged with MLPFS and the firm uses the trade name Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MLPFS's global strategy and economics team serves institutional and individual investors using a wide range of macroeconomic disciplines. Their analysis of global issues provides clients with investment ideas, market forecasts, macro overviews and specific sector recommendations across asset classes, regions and disciplines. Their equity research team conducts fundamental analysis on companies globally and provides institutional and retail clients with industry-specific and in-depth research and analysis on numerous industries. The firm's global fixed-income and equity-linked research focuses on fixed-income and equity derivatives, fixed-income strategy, convertibles, commodities, high-yield, mortgages, municipals and global foreign exchange.

Founded in 2008 by Ricky Solomon and Mark FitzGerald, Wilmot Advisors LLC is a hedge fund manager located in Greenwich, Connecticut. The firm is a subsidiary of Sunrise Partners LLC.

Sigma Designs, Inc. engages in the provision of media platforms for home entertainment. It develops, manufactures and sells media processors, smart televisions, power line and wired media connectivity. The firm's products include media processors, smart tv SoCS, Power line and wired media connectivity. The company was founded by Thinh Q. Tran in 1982 and is headquartered in Fremont, CA.

Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc. operates as a business development company which invests in companies located in the United States with revenues less than $250 million. It targets companies operating in the fields of private technology and cleantech sectors. It provides equity and debt financing in the form of equity for early, later, and growth transactions with an investment size ranging from $1 to $10 million.