Early-stage Colorado investor Matchstick Ventures has added fuel to its fire with the raise of a new $55 million fund.
Matchstick, which is dually located in Boulder and Minneapolis, is set to continue investing in pre-seed and seed-stage technology startups in the region with the raise of its third fund. The venture firm is run by two former Techstars leaders in Ryan Broshar and Natty Zola.
Since launching nearly six years ago, the fund has invested in over 100 companies, including local success stories Halp, Soona and Spekit. Matchstick most recently raised $30 million for its second fund in 2019, building on a $5 million debut fund before that.
Much like its focus in previous funds, this new capital will enable Matchstick to invest in pre-seed and seed rounds for software-centric companies with a connection to its two home states.
And, thanks to its largest fund yet, Matchstick will start writing larger checks between $500,000 and $1.5 million for each company, both leading rounds and working as a syndication partner.
“We will always choose the vision and ambition of the entrepreneurs we work with over a specific industry or vertical, and look forward to finding new breakout companies to add to our list,” the company wrote in a blog post announcing the fund.
Boulder-based Foundry Group, which has its own Techstars connections, was a primary backer of this fund, as well other institutional and individual limited partners.
Zola joined Matchstick full-time in 2019 after leaving his role as managing director at Techstars Boulder. He had been working with the fund in a part-time capacity before, but was persuaded by Broshar to come on to help with the fund’s second raise.
Broshar has strong roots in the Minnesota startup ecosystem, co-founding Beta.MN and Twin Cities Startup Week, while also running three Techstars Retail programs in Minneapolis.
In addition to its growing impact investing in the local startup scene, Matchstick has prioritized adding diversity to its portfolio over the last year. In June 2020, the investment firm laid out a series of goals related to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
In an update earlier this year, Matchstick shared the progress it has made on those goals. It reported that 54% of its portfolio companies are led by at least one underrepresented founder and 14% have a Black founder.
“We share this data to express pride in our history of working with underrepresented populations, and to ensure they feel comfortable engaging with us as we continue our work with Fund III,” the company wrote in the blog post.
