In it for the long climb

Our Story

Kickstart was founded from a trailer in New Mexico during a recession. Our focus then and today is on overlooked founders in the Utah, Colorado, and Mountain West territory.

Who we are

Lead. We are your lead for pre-seed, seed, and an occasional Series A. We set terms, syndicate rounds, and typically take board seats at the seed round.

Local. Our offices in Utah and Colorado, with <2 hr flights to 95% of our portfolio. Our founders, LPs, and operator network are where you are.

Generalists. We underwrite elite founders wherever they are building. Partners bet on non-consensus ideas across the innovation stack.

Early. We believe fund size, team, and culture are a fund’s strategy; we thrive at the earliest stages, and our firm reflects this.

2008 Gavin at the iconic Utah event: Startfest

2012:Fund 2 ($26M), Dalton re-joins Kickstart as a Partner, and focuses on SaaS as it booms in the Mountain west

2014Kickstart creates Campus Founders Fund to help students learn venture and raises Fund 3 ($39M)

2016:Kickstart the named most active investor in Utah and raises fund 4 ($74m)

2019:Kickstart raises fund 5 ($110m) as the region continues to grow and a co-invest fund ($50M) 

2022 Kickstart opens an office in Denver Colorado and finalizes fund 6 ($175M)

Investing in our backyard.

We are building the strongest network of entrepreneurs, operators, and investors across Utah and Colorado, with a growing presence in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and New Mexico

ID XX companies

AZ XX companies

MT XX companies

UT XX companies

CO XX companies

NM XX companies

From first call to ride-or-die.

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