Denver Ventures has raised more than $20 million to back pre-seed and seed startups with its first venture fund, CEO David Prichard shared with PitchBook exclusively.
The launch folds existing angel investor group Denver Angels into Denver Ventures, the new firm. Denver Ventures tackled the bulk of its fundraising in 2024, pulling off the feat during an especially challenging period for emerging managers. Participation from the network’s angel investors as LPs was key to hitting the fund’s target.
Upstart VCs have since found some fundraising luck through private wealth channels. Founder Institute—a longtime startup incubator with its own angel investing syndicate—is looking to raise $15 million for its first VC fund, for example.
But fundraising in 2025 has continued to be mainly driven by more established players, including mega-funds, according to PitchBook data.
“We thought it was really better to do the pre-revenue to early-revenue investing out of a fund,” Prichard said. A fund makes it easier and faster to deploy lots of smaller checks compared to coordinating across numerous angel investors, he added.
Prichard and his partners in the fund have already been investing in later follow-on rounds with their own capital and alongside LPs. Those syndicate growth deals have totaled about $40 million to date.
Down the line, Denver Ventures could set up additional vehicles, including additional early-stage venture funds and potentially a later-stage growth equity vehicle, he said.
The flagship fund backs US startups, with a special affinity for those based in Denver and the Midwest. It plans to write checks of $250,000 to $800,000 apiece. The group has previously invested in the likes of startups Boom Supersonic and Pepper.
Update: This story has been updated to clarify the structure of Denver Ventures, along with additional detail on the firm’s growth equity investments.
Featured image by Joe Sohm/Getty Images
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