Ampersand Ventures traces its lineage to the early days of the private equity industry. Organized in 1969 as an internal technology-focused venture capital investment activity at PaineWebber, Ampersand was founded in 1988 as a spinoff from PaineWebber to step outside of the mainstream by focusing on the Specialty Materials and Chemicals (SMC- industry. Over the past 15+ years we have developed specific investment and operating expertise in a series of SMC-related Target Industries.