Red McCombs Leads MPOWER Ventures Fund II

AUSTIN, Texas, March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Renowned investor and entrepreneur Red McCombs joins MPOWER Ventures founding partners Roy Sosa and Bertrand Sosa as the lead investor in MPOWER Ventures II, the firm announced today. MPOWER Ventures II will fuel country-by-country growth in the regions where MPOWER Ventures' portfolio companies operate and have successfully built and deployed products and programs. It will also support future investment opportunities that fit MPOWER Ventures' mission and focus.

MPOWER Ventures directs private investment to companies whose innovations extend the reach and expand the range of financial services available to underserved consumers. Committed to promoting financial inclusion across the spectrum of financial needs and around the world, MPOWER Ventures has assembled a portfolio of companies spanning international payments, mobile payments, retail financial services, and asset-building and investment products with operations in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

"Global markets have failed to provide financial services to billions around the world, a problem that has attracted the attention and considerable resources of respected organizations like the Gates Foundation," said Roy Sosa, founding partner of MPOWER Ventures. "Those efforts must be matched by private investment through partners like Red McCombs who can dedicate the resources required to drive rapid innovation of market-based solutions, solutions that can profitably and sustainably deliver safe, affordable tools to those who live beyond their reach today."

Billy Joe "Red" McCombs has led a remarkable career as a successful investor and entrepreneur with extensive business interests, ranging from automobile dealerships, communications and professional sports to oil, ranching and real estate. He founded the Red McCombs Automotive Group, and he co-founded Clear Channel Communications with Lowry Mays. He also previously owned the Minnesota Vikings, the San Antonio Spurs and the Denver Nuggets. His accomplishments have earned many honors and accolades, including NFL Owner of the Year, San Antonio Business Hall of Fame, Texas Business Hall of Fame, National College Football Hall of Fame, National Auto Dealers Hall of Fame, and he holds honorary doctorates from Southwestern University, The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas Lutheran University. One of Forbes Magazine's 400 Richest Americans in 2009, he is also a prominent philanthropist and the namesake of the University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business.

"This is an exceptional group of companies and entrepreneurs who have the passion and the audacity to tackle a major global financial challenge in a tough economic climate and have already made significant inroads in markets around the world," said Red McCombs. "I'm proud to partner in this mission and look forward to being part of what they accomplish in the coming years."

Based in Austin, Texas, MPOWER Ventures was established in 2006 by brothers Roy Sosa and Bertrand Sosa, accomplished entrepreneurs who pioneered the multi-billion dollar prepaid debit market as co-founders of NetSpend Corporation. The firm's current investment portfolio includes:

• MPOWER Mobile – A mobile software company specializing in the deployment of mobile-phone-based financial services and payments solutions accessible from any mobile handset via Short Message Service (SMS) and via mobile applications for smart phones;
• Rev Worldwide – A global payment company whose proprietary processing platform and growing distribution network allow financial institutions, telecommunication companies and merchants to deliver new payment solutions to underserved customers anywhere in the world;
• Gratio Capital – A New York City-based asset management firm creating the world's first investment products for the underserved; and
• Mango Financial – An innovative consumer financial services company that empowers underserved U.S. customers to achieve their financial goals through a world-class service experience and a suite of financial products designed to achieve a level of integration unmatched in the industry today.

About MPOWER Ventures

Based in Austin, Texas, MPOWER Ventures (www.mpowerventures.com) is a socially committed venture capital firm dedicated to identifying and investing in early-stage businesses that create products and services for underserved populations. Grounded by the beliefs that private investment can solve persistent social problems and market-based solutions can realize change on the broadest scale, MPOWER Ventures is building a portfolio of companies whose products and services will foster empowerment, health and prosperity in underserved markets. MPOWER Ventures currently focuses its investment portfolio in financial services with investments in international payments, mobile payments, retail financial services and asset-building and investment products.

SOURCE MPOWER Ventures