Idaho is a state that attracts plenty of startups. That’s because it has what's considered a "business-friendly environment." Taxes are low for businesses and owners, the regulatory burden is low, and the state budget is properly balanced. Idaho also has a number of venture capital firms that are looking for promising startups to provide capital for.
Below, we note some of the most notable venture capital firms in the state of Idaho. You can use this information to help determine which VC firm is right for your startup.
We also recommend checking out our full list of the top venture capital firms.
Best Idaho VC Firms
1. One Ventures
- Location: Boise, ID
- Industries: Real Estate, B2B, Technology, Software
- Stage: Early Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Employment Hero, Continuous Composites
OneVentures is a VC firm based in Boise operated by Idaho natives with a passion for startups. It invests in Idaho-based startups with a proven track record of performance and growth. Through capital investment and ongoing support, it seeks to build winning companies with strong cultures that can stand the test of time.
Unlike many VC firms, OneVentures doesn’t operate on the standard 3-5 year investment turn-around. It doesn’t try to flip companies for a quick profit; instead, it strives to support its investments over the long term to enhance already great brands and deliver world-class service. This VC firm wants to help businesses reach true excellence.
2. StageDotO
- Location: Boise, ID
- Industries: Technology, B2B, Financial
- Stage: Seed, Early Stage, Growth Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Dot., Flip Ride, Landlord Tech
StageDotO is an Idaho-based VC firm that serves as active partners, advisers, and networkers for startups in Idaho and beyond. It is not afraid to dive in and work side by side with founders and teams to achieve excellence. The capital provided by StageDotO, when combined with its operational support and expertise, allows startups to develop into world-class organizations.
This venture capital firm looks for founders with deep domain expertise in their field that also understand the problems they are solving at the enterprise level. It also seeks out game-changing technology and transformative ideas. If the startup in question has the right combination of these qualities, then StageDotO believes that it can take the business to the next level and beyond.
3. Capital Eleven
- Location: Meridian, ID
- Industries: Software, Real Estate
- Stage: Early Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Crave!, CMG, Pro Image Sports
Capital Eleven is an investment firm that specializes in early-stage venture capital. The company was founded by two business students from Boise State University in 2009. The two would go on to found Capital Auto Loan in 2014, which has grown to become one of the biggest auto lenders in both Idaho and Utah.
Capital Eleven focuses its private equity investments on software companies in their early stages, as well as commercial real estate developments and other high-growth opportunities. The company invests in founders with strong visions and partners with other investors who are equally committed to excellence and grit.
4. Alturas Ventures
- Location: Eagle, ID
- Industries: Technology
- Stage: Seed, Early Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Retrolux, Ovation, SeekingSimple
Alturas Ventures is the venture capital arm of Alturas, which owns and operates real estate and a variety of companies. Alturas Ventures brings ideas to life by partnering with founders. It uses the co-foundry model to transform ideas into real-world, scalable businesses. The company integrates deeply with other founders to help them bring their ideas from pre-revenue to the launch stage.
Alturas takes a long-term perspective with its co-foundry model. Instead of trying to flip startups to make quick profits, it seeks to establish a strong working relationship with founders and their teams to ensure stability and profitability over an extended period. This approach is more time-consuming initially, but leads to a richer and more satisfying experience for all involved.
5. Idaho Capital Ventures
- Location: Boise, ID
- Industries: Sector Agnostic
- Stage: Seed, Early Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Fitted Running
Idaho Capital Ventures is a relatively new venture capital firm based in Boise. This firm considers itself entrepreneur-friendly and is all about the early stage. It thrives on the beginning stages of the startup process and says that it never met a business plan it didn’t like – just some that it didn’t invest in.
This VC firm encourages every startup seeking funding to read Steve Blank's “Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything” and wants everyone seeking venture capital from its firm to speak the same language as laid out in the article. Idaho Capital Ventures believes, along with Blank, that a startup is not just a smaller version of a large company. Instead, a startup is a lean team looking to prove a hypothesis.
