Keller, Mercer Form Consulting Partnership for Tech Startups

Longtime auto industry consultants Maryann Keller and Glenn Mercer are launching a new partnership to help tech startups and investors enter the auto industry.

The consultancy will advise newcomers on the "nuts and bolts" of industry operations and how fledgling companies can find the right partners and best leverage their technical expertise. In addition to Keller and Mercer, Ken Elias, a partner with tech consultants Mark Krueger & Associates and former vice president of Priceline.com, will be the operations manager of the new firm.

With more than 40 years of experience as a Wall Street securities analyst and industry consultant, Keller is said to be the first female automotive analyst. In 1989 she published "Rude Awakening; The Rise, Fall and Struggle to Recover at General Motors," which also chronicled the steady rise of Japanese carmakers. Keller also led the early public-offerings of several of dealer groups and questioned the viability of "disruptors" during the early days of the Internet.

Mercer spent two decades as a partner with McKinsey & Co.'s automotive practice, and a decade of independent work as an advisor to venture capital, private equity, and public equity investors. He also was a consultant to the National Automobile Dealers Assn., and he recently completed a study on the future of automotive retail.

On the investment advisory side, Keller and Mercer have worked with Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byer, Greenbriar Equity Group and leveraged buyout specialists KKR.