Our Team
Joseph Crayton – Managing General Partner
Mr. Joseph Crayton is an experienced senior finance executive and banker with more than 25 years in banking, management, venture finance, entrepreneurism and consulting in the U.S. and West Africa. As Managing General Partner of Gemini Capital Partners, Mr. Crayton spearheads deal sourcing and oversees fund operations.
Prior to Gemini Capital, Mr. Crayton was a co-founder of Square 1 Bank, a premier venture bank operating across the U.S., where he was most recently the Managing Director Technology Banking, Eastern U.S. At Square 1 Bank, Mr. Crayton led several business units and departments including risk management east, technology banking east, portfolio management, portfolio analysis, loan workouts and special projects. Mr. Crayton was a key part of the banking team that helped grow Square 1 Bank from $105 million to over $2.5 billion in assets and position it to go public on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Mr. Crayton worked closely with venture and private equity investors as well as entrepreneurs in a variety of ways to ensure funding plans, funding strategies, business strategies and business operations were aligned for optimal outcome He was responsible for funding several hundred companies and managed a banking unit responsible for over $1 billion in assets. He also successfully managed portfolio companies through trouble situations, workouts and turnarounds to achieve successful outcomes for all parties. Prior to Square 1 Bank, Mr. Crayton was Vice President Venture Banking with Comerica Bank’s Technology and Life Sciences Group and with Imperial Bank’s Emerging Growth Division.
In addition to his banking career, Mr. Crayton has provided advisory services to the Liberian government in several areas of finance and financial policy. He has also invested in several companies in Liberia including Libango Holdings, Transformer Manufacturers and Services, and Garson Steel, and has participated in several other ventures and non-profit activities. He holds a MBA from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business and a BA in Economics from the San Francisco State University.
Adrian Wilson - Venture Partner
Adrian Wilson is a seasoned senior executive with more than 30 years’ experience in the venture capital, entrepreneurial and legal communities. As Venture Partner of Gemini Capital Partners, Mr. Wilson will be focused on investment review, fund governance and operations.
Mr. Wilson co-founded and served as President & CEO of Airwavz Solutions, Inc., a wireless infrastructure company in the telecommunications sector. Prior to Airwavz, Mr. Wilson founded and served as Managing Partner of Square 1 Ventures, a venture capital fund-of-funds. For the three years prior to his departure, this fund was ranked as the top performing U.S. private equity fund-of-funds for its vintage year. Previously, he served as managing partner for two early-stage, technology-focused venture capital funds that targeted investment opportunities in the southeastern U.S.
As a practicing attorney for over 13 years, Mr. Wilson has significant legal experience in investment transactions, M&A, corporate governance and financial/securities regulation. He served for 6 years as Associate General Counsel and two years in general management for a predecessor to Duke Energy and started his career as a corporate attorney for a full-service law firm.
Mr. Wilson has served as a board member for numerous start-up businesses, for-profit and non-profit enterprises.
Mr. Wilson holds a J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina and a B.A. from Davidson College.
Owen Harmon - General Partner
Owen Harmon is a finance and investment professional with a broad range of experiences across various business sectors in the U.S. and Liberia that span 20 years. Most recently, Owen has been an entrepreneur in the Atlanta, GA area. He was a founder and COO for Alternative Enterprises International Inc. where he was a key contributor for the firm’s investment making decisions in its agriculture investments. Owen was also a Business Development Specialist at Barclays Global Investors, a Barclays PLC subsidiary, and was directly responsible for generating over $40 million in net new revenue for the firm over a 2-year span. Before that he served as a Revenue Analyst for Barclays within their Finance & Treasury Group. Prior to joining BGI, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Enterprise Events Group, Inc. in San Rafael, CA. On the non-profit front, Owen was a founding member and Treasurer of Each Child Counts Foundation and was an integral part of an ongoing effort to supply humanitarian goods and services to the children of Liberia. Owen holds a B.A. in Accounting and has an MBA, with honors, from Indiana Wesleyan University. He has held FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses.
Owen is Head of Operations in Sierra Leone and is responsible for identifying and growing opportunities in the region.