Silicon Slopes Venture Fund

The Silicon Slopes Venture Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit venture capital fund launched in January 2020 by three of Utah's most successful tech founders: Ryan Smith (co-founder and CEO of Qualtrics), Josh James (founder and CEO of Domo), and Jeff Kearl (founder of Pelion Venture Partners). Unlike a traditional VC, the fund's operators donate most fees and carried interest back to the Silicon Slopes nonprofit, which uses those proceeds to fund community programs, events, and resources for Utah's broader tech ecosystem. Understanding EBITDA multiples in growth-stage valuation is valuable for any founder.

The fund is managed by Pelion Venture Partners, one of Utah's most established venture firms, which brings over three decades of investing experience to the organization. This structure means the Silicon Slopes Venture Fund is explicitly designed to give back to the Utah tech community while generating returns for investors. It is one of the only nonprofit VC structures in the country that operates at meaningful scale.

This guide covers the fund's investment thesis, its portfolio of Utah and national companies, typical check sizes, diversity focus, and practical advice for founders seeking funding from this unique institution.

The Silicon Slopes Venture Fund has a dual thesis that sets it apart from conventional venture funds: generate strong financial returns while simultaneously funding the growth of Utah's tech community Understanding scaling ARR benchmarks with unit economics discipline helps founders navigate this. Every dollar of carried interest and operational fee the fund's managers forfeit flows back into Silicon Slopes programming.

The fund invests in technology and technology-enabled companies at seed and Series A stages. While the fund has invested nationally, there is a clear preference for companies either founded by Utah entrepreneurs or building companies within the Silicon Slopes ecosystem. The fund also actively targets diversity, with a stated goal of investing in female and minority-run businesses.

Pelion Venture Partners manages the fund's day-to-day operations. Pelion itself is sector- and geography-agnostic, with particular interest in vertical AI, marketplaces, security and infrastructure, and fintech. Pelion's Fund 8, a $500M vehicle raised in December 2021, focuses on leading Series A rounds while also writing seed checks of $1-3M.

The fund benefits from direct access to the networks of three of Utah's most influential tech figures. Ryan Smith's experience scaling Qualtrics to an $8B acquisition by SAP, Josh James's track record building Domo as a public company, and Jeff Kearl's decades of VC investing create a uniquely well-connected investor base.

Unlike VC funds that must return capital to institutional LP investors, the nonprofit structure creates more flexibility in how the fund operates and how proceeds are allocated. This allows the fund to take a longer-term view on certain investments and to prioritize ecosystem building over pure financial maximization.

The Silicon Slopes Venture Fund was launched just months before the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the venture landscape. Despite the economic disruption, the fund continued deploying capital and has maintained an active investment pace through 2024 and into 2025.

Pelion Venture Partners, which manages the fund, announced its $500M Fund 8 in December 2021, signaling significant capital available for deployment. The fund's第七 (7th) fund had previously raised $365M. The scale of these vehicles places Pelion among the larger regional VCs in the Mountain West.

In January 2025, Pelion announced its latest fund (Fund 8) would continue its strategy of leading Series A rounds while maintaining an active seed program. The firm has been particularly active in AI-native businesses, with portfolio companies like Valinor (drug development AI), Honey Health (healthcare AI agents), and Agree.com (AI e-signature) reflecting a thesis that AI is reshaping every vertical.

The fund has also maintained its commitment to portfolio companies through follow-on rounds, demonstrating a willingness to support existing investments through growth stages rather than exiting early. This support has been especially valuable for Utah companies navigating the 2022-2023 venture downturn.

Market conditions have made Pelion more selective in deployment, but the firm remains committed to its core strategy: finding outlier founders at the seed and Series A stages who bring unique insights from earned experience.

The Silicon Slopes Venture Fund's portfolio spans both Utah-born companies and national winners, reflecting the fund's dual focus on ecosystem building and financial returns.

Utah-headquartered companies in the portfolio include Divvy (expense management software, acquired by HSBC in 2021), Galileo (healthcare data platform, acquired by Good MD), Lucid (visual collaboration, NASDAQ: LCID), MX (financial data aggregation, raised over $250M), and Weave (healthcare communications, NYSE: WEAV). These companies represent Utah's strongest tech verticals: B2B SaaS, fintech infrastructure, and healthcare technology.

National investments include Cloudflare (NYSE: NET), Uber (NYSE: UBER), and Coupa Software (acquired by BC Partners). These out-of-state investments demonstrate that the fund is willing to back exceptional founders wherever they are, though Utah founders reportedly receive preferential treatment in deal flow.

Pelion Venture Partners' broader portfolio, which the fund co-invests in, includes Valinor (AI for drug development), Honey Health (AI agents for healthcare), Agree.com (AI-powered e-signature), Subscript (B2B revenue management), Strider (strategic intelligence for defense contractors), and Nursa (healthcare staffing marketplace). These reflect Pelion's thematic focus on vertical AI and marketplace businesses.

The portfolio spans enterprise software, fintech infrastructure, healthcare technology, and developer tools. Most portfolio companies are B2B SaaS businesses serving national and global markets from a Utah base.

The Silicon Slopes Venture Fund, through Pelion Venture Partners, evaluates investments based on founder quality above all else. Pelion's stated thesis is to find "exceptional founders with unique insights" — individuals who represent the top tier in their domain and bring earned "secrets" from direct experience.

The fund looks for founders who have seen something in the market that others have missed. This often manifests as a founder who worked at an incumbent, identified a structural problem, and left to build the solution themselves. The insight must be defensible and durable.

Beyond the founder, Pelion evaluates market size and the ability to build a category-defining company. The firm prefers large total addressable markets where the company can grow to $100M+ in revenue without hitting obvious ceilings.

Business model quality matters. Pelion has a strong bias toward SaaS and software businesses with recurring revenue metrics, strong net revenue retention, and evidence of product-market fit. Early-stage companies should demonstrate clear differentiation from incumbent solutions.

The diversity mandate influences deal flow. The fund explicitly targets female and minority-run businesses, creating a distinct access point for underrepresented founders who may not have the same warm introductions to traditional VCs.

For Utah companies specifically, the fund looks for businesses that can benefit from the Silicon Slopes ecosystem — not just capital but the network of successful Utah tech alumni including founders and executives from Qualtrics, Domo, Adobe (via the Omniture acquisition), and other Utah success stories.

Warm introductions remain the most effective pathway to the Silicon Slopes Venture Fund. The fund's small, operator-heavy structure means relationship-driven deal flow is the primary sourcing channel. Founders who know portfolio company CEOs, Pelion partners, or members of the Utah tech community have a significant advantage.

The fund does accept cold submissions, but given volume and the relationship-driven nature of the vehicle, cold outreach has a lower conversion rate. If pursuing a cold approach, ensure your pitch deck is precise: clearly articulate the problem, your unique insight, the business model, and traction metrics.

For Utah founders specifically, the Silicon Slopes community events (Silicon Slopes Summit, Pitch Room, Start School programs) provide lower-stakes environments to build relationships with the fund's operators. These community touchpoints often lead to more substantive conversations than a cold pitch.

When preparing for a meeting with Pelion (on behalf of the fund), be ready for a direct, no-frills conversation. Pelion partners are known for asking founders hard questions about assumptions, market sizing, and competitive positioning. Do not come with generic pitch decks — come with specific answers.

Follow-up discipline matters. Pelion's investment process typically takes 2-4 weeks from initial meeting to term sheet, though timing varies. Maintain communication without being pushy, and send material updates on traction, team hires, or product milestones.

Even if a current round does not result in an investment, building a long-term relationship with the fund can pay off. Pelion and the Silicon Slopes network often reinvest in founders across multiple companies and future rounds.

Early-stage investors like the Silicon Slopes Venture Fund expect founders to have a firm grip on their business mechanics, even if the company is pre-revenue. This means knowing your burn rate, runway, unit economics, and the assumptions behind your financial projections.

First-time founders frequently underestimate how deeply investors will probe financial projections. Pelion will challenge your assumptions about customer acquisition costs, pricing compression, and the timeline to profitability. Build your models with evidence, not hope.

Working with a fractional CFO can meaningfully improve your fundraising outcome. A fractional CFO helps you build investor-ready financial models, prepare for diligence questions, and present your business with the confidence that comes from understanding your numbers cold.

Our team has helped numerous early-stage companies raise venture capital and understand exactly what investors like Pelion and the Silicon Slopes Venture Fund want to see in a financial presentation. We ensure your data room is clean, your projections are grounded, and your key metrics tell a compelling story.

Beyond the numbers, track your KPIs obsessively. Investors want to see that you know which metrics drive your business and that you can explain trends in your performance data. A founder who knows their numbers cold is immediately more credible than one who does not.

Whether you are preparing to pitch the Silicon Slopes Venture Fund or any other top VC, professional financials set you apart. Founders who arrive with clean models, grounded projections, and clear answers to investor questions stand out in a sea of decks that overpromise and under-deliver.

Exploring other venture capital firms? Our comprehensive collection of VC firm reviews covers investors across all stages and sectors, from seed-focused funds to growth equity firms.

Each review provides detailed information about investment criteria, portfolio companies, and strategies for securing funding. Whether you are building a fintech in Utah, a healthtech company in Miami, or a developer tool in New York, you will find relevant insights in our VC guides.

Finding the right investor for your startup is one of the most consequential decisions you will make as a founder. Take the time to understand each firm's specific thesis, portfolio, and preferences before reaching out.

Our guides include both established firms like Pelion Venture Partners and emerging managers who may be a better fit for your company's specific stage and sector.