About Mark II Ventures
We believe that our structured processes and fine-tuned iterations are a formula for success. This is how we apply our product to market workflow, and how we developed our name: Mark II Ventures. Mark (noun) – used with a numeral as a method of designating a version of a product. The “Mark” in our name references the ideas and products we are cultivating. We begin the product journey at the idea stage or Mark 0. Moving forward in our process, we build prototypes that we test with real customers and turn into an initial product MVP, which we designate as Mark I. We continue to refine that initial product offering until we achieve have “Product-Market Fit” or Mark II.
We guide promising startups from Idea to
Product-Market Fit, thus we are Mark II Ventures.
Meet The Team
We are a team of successful startup founders and builders from the Southeast who are passionate about helping foster the innovation culture in our region. Collectively, we serve as an “institutional co-founder” of new tech-focused startups, providing our portfolio of companies with access to our talent network, resources and playbooks, and connections to leading investors.
“Mark II Ventures approach is a very scientific approach to building a business...and that appealed to me.”
Joel BerryFounder of Astound Research
Patrick is a Managing Partner at Mark II Ventures. In 2018, he founded Simpeo, an innovative, tech enabled HR company. Simpeo’s mission was to empower small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) through workflow automation, labor cost reduction, and risk transfer solutions. Under Patrick’s leadership, Simpeo achieved $100M ARR before being successfully acquired by GMS in December 2022.
Prior to establishing Simpeo, Patrick joined Manhattan-based Blink Health—a direct-to-consumer pharmacy—as its third employee, ultimately ascending to the role of Director of Business Development. Blink Health went on to secure $176 million in venture capital funding and became one of the largest digital pharmacies in the United States.
In his early career, Patrick was an Associate at Black Pearl Capital. During his tenure, he was involved in a wide range of transactions and was responsible for identifying and structuring investment opportunities on behalf of the organization.
Patrick has always been passionate about solving difficult problems. His unwavering dedication to this pursuit stems from his desire to drive meaningful change in overlooked industries and create lasting impact. By focusing on early-stage ventures, Patrick has the unique opportunity to collaborate with exceptional entrepreneurs, combining their talents to bring innovative ideas to life.
Glenn is a Managing Partner at Mark Two Ventures (MKII). Prior to founding MKII, Glenn successfully launched and scaled several startups. His companies have employed hundreds of people, and he personally built and managed one of the largest software development teams in the state of Alabama. He raised over $35M in early-stage capital for his own companies, including one of Alabama’s largest Series A rounds of venture capital. He has successfully exited a company and scaled up another to profitability with over $40M in ARR.
Pre-COVID, Glenn spent a couple of years as part of the NYC startup community where he developed close relationships with other founders, technologists, and venture capitalists. Seeing how access to a strong network of capital and talent improves the odds of startup success, Glenn decided to launch MKII to provide hands-on support for visionary founders by serving as an “intuitional co-founder.”
Phil has been a high school English teacher, a tenured university professor, CEO of a struggling communications startup, and the President of a company with thousands of wage earners. Regardless of the size of the team or the title of the job, his passion is helping people grow and develop, with the ultimate goal of effecting some sort of positive change in themselves and/or the world. His background in education and pragmatic philosophy lends itself to working with founders, with whom he takes a systematic and iterative approach to bringing new ideas to market.
As CRO at Mark II, he is responsible for helping founders develop, refine, and execute on everything that involves getting to market. As teams hone in on product market fit, he assists with each step of the customer journey, ensuring that new revenue recurs rather than churns and that the technology evolves according to customer needs.
Mark is a strategy-minded product professional with a passion for solving problems, building teams, and driving change. He brings a decade of experience in building and scaling innovative technology products across various industries. A skilled strategist and communicator, he excels at identifying opportunities and leading teams to create groundbreaking solutions.
His first product experience came from founding Lodge & Charter, a SaaS-enabled marketplace serving the outdoor adventure industry. He has since honed his product expertise across large businesses and other startups with great success.
It is the experience with his first failed venture that serves as his everyday motivation to partner with MKII founders. He strongly believes that if he had been able to work with Mark II Ventures when building Lodge & Charter, the chances of success would have increased exponentially. He is grateful for the opportunity to empower entrepreneurs to solve real problems, create great products, and build successful businesses.
Chris Hand is a seasoned technology leader and software expert with a distinguished career spanning over a decade in the industry. With a proven track record of managing cross-functional teams and driving innovative solutions, he has developed a reputation for his technical acumen and leadership abilities.
A dynamic leader, Chris has held positions across Technology, Architecture, Customer Experience, and Operations. He has demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing scalable software solutions, managing development teams, and ensuring the successful delivery of products. His ability to identify and execute strategic initiatives has led to significant improvements in customer satisfaction, process efficiency, and product innovation throughout his career.
Chris’s technical prowess spans frontend and backend technologies. He has consistently leveraged his skills to build and launch cutting-edge applications, both web and mobile, that cater to a wide range of user needs. With a passion for mentoring and empowering teams, Chris is excited to bring his experience to Mark Two and help others realize success.
Our History
Mark II Ventures was founded by Glenn Clayton and Patrick Cooney, who are originally from the Southeast. Both moved to NYC where they had the opportunity to build high-growth technology companies. Those experiences allowed them to learn the “startup playbook” and build meaningful relationships with top startup talent and leading VCs from around the world.
Both Glenn and Patrick eventually moved back to the Southeast with a desire to leverage their knowledge, experience, and networks to help other founders build the next generation of tech startups. Initially acting as angel investors and advisors, they saw that many founders needed more hands-on support than they could offer as passive investors. So they launched Mark II Ventures with the goal of enabling founders as an “expert co-founder”.
Today, Mark II Ventures is a leading venture studio that helps visionary founders launch new technology companies. The studio acts as a true co-founder of new startups alongside visionary founding teams and follows proven “lean product” methodologies to help evaluate, ideate, and launch new products across a variety of overlooked industries.
The studio team combines their knowledge of the “Silicon Valley playbook” with their experience and pragmatism to help founders navigate launching a new product while avoiding many of the mistakes that are common in early-stage startups. The Mark II team has grown to include numerous successful founders, executives, and advisors with extensive experience building SaaS and marketplace companies across various industries.
Our Mission
Our mission is to build a platform of success, combining the experience of our partners, the intelligence of our founders and the depth of our networks to bring transformational technologies to market.
