The Salt Lake City-based venture firm Kickstart plans to reinforce its focus on Colorado and other Mountain West states with the close of a new $230 million fund.
Kickstart announced the close of its new fund Wednesday and revealed plans to expand into Colorado. Dalton Wright, a general partner at Kickstart who helped to launch the firm in 2008, will move with his family to Denver this summer and open a new office.
"Kickstart is ready to establish a permanent in-state presence in Colorado and will extend its community platform... to more entrepreneurs in the region," the announcement states.
The firm plans to invest its $230 million fund into startups in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. The firm has previously led early-stage rounds for Colorado startups, including SonderMind, Havenly and Nomad.
Kickstart was the first institutional investor in SonderMind, a Denver mental health startup that reached unicorn status last year, said SonderMind CEO Mark Frank. Curt Roberts, a general partner at Kickstart, sits on SonderMind's board.
"Curt is always a text or call away, as a coach in my corner, and we’ve kept him on our board from our seed round, through all of our growth rounds," Frank said. "This approach of support and proactive contribution extends throughout the entire Kickstart team, making them an invaluable addition to the Denver ecosystem.”
The latest round is the sixth for the firm, and Kickstart has a total of $487 million in assets under its management. So far, Kickstart has invested in more than 200 startups, focusing its money on seed-stage rounds.
Venture deals slowed last year, as rising inflation and an uncertain economic environment led venture capitalists to take a more conservative approach with their investments. According to PtichBook, the amount of capital sought by U.S. startups during the last quarter of 2022 was billions of dollars more than the capital supplied. For early-stage rounds, the need outpaced the supply by about 50%.
With its new fund, Kickstart hopes to bolster investing in Mountain West states and be the most active seed-stage investor in the region. The firm has "never been more bullish" on startups founded in the area, its leaders said.
"This is exciting news for early-stage startups in the Mountain West at a time when many question how active venture investors might be for the foreseeable future," Kickstart's announcement reads. "Kickstart will use these funds to support founders fostering innovation and help their companies scale at a time when so many venture firms are pulling back."
Eric Roza, a managing director at Vista Equity Partners in Boulder, said Kickstart's expansion to Colorado was a "clear positive for the startup ecosystem here."
"It’s clear that Kickstart values long-term thinking and doing the right thing, even when it’s hard," Roza said.
