For years, Adam Burrows and Chris Erickson spent time at the top of successful technology companies, both in Denver and the Bay Area.
Burrows held executive roles at Denver’s ANGI Homeservices and Guild Education, while Erickson founded Apartment List and recently relocated to Denver.
After all that time on the startup side, the duo has flipped to the other end of the table, launching a new venture firm in the Mile High City this year.
Range Ventures, their Denver-based, technology-focused venture capital firm, announced a new $23 million fund on Dec. 8 to provide early stage capital to bright local founders.
Founded in March 2020, Range has a network of nearly 100 limited partners that have built, run and invested in many successful companies in the greater Denver area. Those companies include ANGI Homeservices, EverCommerce, Ibotta, Guild Education, Ping Identity and Datalogix.
“Those folks are looking not only to deploy their capital, but also their time and support, to build the next generation of huge technology companies in Colorado,” Burrows told Denver Business Journal.
The firm expects to make between 20 and 25 investments as part of the fund, with the average check size of $500,000 to $750,000 for seed stage companies. Range’s focus is primarily on software-enabled technology services startup across a variety of verticals.
While the money is crucial, Burrows said Range provides far more value than that, offering an experienced hand in building a company.
“Chris and I are at our core builders — we love partnering with founders and building companies,” he said. “We are seeing that founders increasingly want partners that have been there and done that and stood in their shoes before. Partners that can help them see around corners and provide empathy.”
Since holding its first fund close in July 2020, Range Ventures has subsequently made three investments in companies like Soona and CometChat.
As the firm prepares to deploy its capital, Burrows said Range’s vast network of limited partners separates it from other local investors.
“When founders take money from Range, they’re not just getting the support of Chris and I and our director of talent, they’re getting the support of about 100 leaders in the community,” he said
