Draft:Kickstart
Kickstart Fund is an american early-stage venture capital fund
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Kickstart Fund (also referred to as Kickstart or Kickstart Seed Fund) is an American venture capital firm with offices in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, and Denver, Colorado. The firm provides institutional capital to early-stage startups within the Mountain West region of the United States. As of 2023, Kickstart manages approximately $487 million in assets under management across six investment funds.[1][2]
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Submission declined on 19 February 2026 by OrangeWaylon (talk).
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Comment: Seriously? You have five sentences of content, and 42 sources! Talk about WP:REFBOMBING. I suggest you get rid of the majority of those, if you wish for this to be reviewed any time soon. It is much better to support a draft with 4 solid sources that establish notability, than with 42 flaky ones that don't. DoubleGrazing (talk) 11:37, 25 February 2026 (UTC)
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture capital |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founder | Gavin Christensen |
| Headquarters | Cottonwood Heights, Utah, U.S. |
Area served | Mountain West region |
| Website | kickstart |
History
Founding
Kickstart Fund was founded in 2008 by Gavin Christensen during the onset of the financial crisis and Great Recession.[3][4] The founding of Kickstart addressed what Christensen identified as a capital gap in the Mountain West region and was the first dedicated seed-stage venture fund established in Utah.[5] Seed-stage funding for early-stage technology companies in Utah and surrounding states was limited, with most institutional venture capital concentrated in Silicon Valley, Boston, and other established technology centers.
Utah Startup Ecosystem Development
Kickstart's investment activity has coincided with significant growth in Utah's technology startup ecosystem. As of 2023, Utah saw 71,262 small business applications, an increase of approximately 9% from the previous year. Salt Lake County alone recorded 26,690 business applications in 2023, representing significant growth from prior years.
Major technology companies with significant operations in Utah include Domo, Pluralsight, Qualtrics, and Vivint. These companies, along with Kickstart portfolio companies, have contributed to the development of Utah as an established technology hub.
Regional Expansion
In February 2023, Kickstart announced the closing of Fund VI at $230 million, along with a dedicated follow-on fund. The combined fundraise nearly doubled the firm's assets under management to approximately $487 million.
In conjunction with the Fund VI announcement, Kickstart established a permanent office in Denver, Colorado, representing the firm's first expansion of physical presence outside of Utah since its founding. General Partner Dalton Wright, a co-founder who had been with the firm since 2008, relocated to lead the Colorado office and oversee regional expansion.
Organization & Leadership
Kickstart Fund is led by founder and General Partner Gavin Christensen, who has managed the firm since its establishment in 2008.Christensen is also a member of the board of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), the industry's principal trade organization.
General Partner Dalton Wright co-founded Kickstart in 2008 and has held partnership roles since inception. Before establishing Kickstart, Wright worked to help launch Mexico's first early-stage technology venture fund. Wright is a member of the Kauffman Fellows Society, a selective organization of venture capital professionals.
General Partner Kat Kennedy joined Kickstart in 2022. Prior to joining Kickstart, Kennedy served as president of Degreed, an enterprise learning platform.
General Partner and Chief Financial Officer Alex Soffe manages the firm's financial operations, including capital reporting, asset management, and transaction structuring.
Assets Under Management
Since its inception in 2008, Kickstart has closed six institutional investment funds. Following the close of Fund VI in 2023, Kickstart manages approximately $487 million in total assets under management.
In addition to its primary seed funds, Kickstart maintains a dedicated follow-on fund to support continued investment in portfolio companies as they progress beyond the seed stage.
Investments
Geographic Focus
Kickstart's investment strategy is geographically centered on the Mountain West region, defined as Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and adjacent states.
Investment Stage
Kickstart focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage investments, though the firm also participates in Series A and later funding rounds as follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies.
Portfolio
Sectors represented in Kickstart's portfolio include B2B software-as-a-service, financial technology, health tech, consumer tech, and digital marketplaces. Notable investments include:
Major Exits
Galileo (Acquired by SoFi, 2021)
Galileo, a financial infrastructure and API platform, was acquired by SoFi (formerly Social Finance) in 2021. The acquisition was valued at approximately $1.2 billion.
Spiff Acquisition by Salesforce (2023)
Salesforce, a major enterprise cloud software company, announced the acquisition of Spiff in December 2023 for $419M.[20] Spiff is a sales operations and performance management software company. Salesforce identified Spiff as complementary to its Sales Cloud product suite and indicated plans to integrate Spiff's capabilities into its broader platform.
Angel Studios (IPO, 2025)
Angel Studios, a community-driven film and entertainment production company, went public in 2025 after raising capital including from Kickstart Fund. The company pioneered a crowdfunded model for film production where its "Angel Guild" of approximately 1.5 million members vote on and finance which projects get produced and distributed. Angel Studios achieved significant commercial success with productions including "The Chosen" (a crowdfunded series viewed over 300 million times) and "Sound of Freedom" (which grossed approximately $250 million globally).
Programs
Campus Founders Fund
In 2014, Kickstart created Campus Founders Fund (CFF), a student-operated venture capital fund focused on making small angel investments in companies founded and led by university students and recent graduates. The fund is sponsored and funded by Kickstart but maintains operational independence, with all sourcing and investment decisions madeby student investment committees.[21]
The fund was created as an extension of Kickstart's mission to develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Mountain West. According to Kickstart co-founder Dalton Wright, Campus Founders Fund was designed to identify early-stage student entrepreneurs and provide them with capital, mentorship, and network access during the critical early stages of company formation.
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