PRENTISS NELSON- President
Prentiss Nelson is an executive and investor with extensive experience in investment banking and private equity within the financial services, technology, distilled spirits and real estate industries. He leads Blackbird’s acquisition and financing strategies.
Mr. Nelson is also the founder and managing partner of the consulting and private investment firm Elmington Park Capital Partners, LLC.
Mr. Nelson served as a vice president in the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) of RBC Capital Markets, the global investment banking arm of the Royal Bank of Canada, in both San Francisco and New York, where he advised banks, asset managers and specialty finance companies on mergers & acquisitions, initial public offerings, and equity and debt capital raising. During his time with RBC, Mr. Nelson participated in some of the largest banking and specialty finance mergers, acquisitions and capital raises of the last decade.
Prior to his time with RBC, Mr. Nelson was an associate at a boutique M&A advisory firm in San Francisco advising SaaS and security software companies.
Mr. Nelson served for six years as an artillery officer in the United States Marine Corp, deploying multiple times with 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment to Western Iraq. During this time, Captain Nelson served as an artillery forward observer, platoon commander, and company executive officer during the Battle of Fallujah and while performing border patrol operations along the Syrian and Jordanian borders.
Mr. Nelson holds a B.S. in systems engineering from the United State Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He is a native of Nashville, where he lives with his wife, daughter, and Australian Shepherd.