VC BUILT RIGHT.

About Startup Ignition Ventures, a system of capital, connected correctly.

John & Tyler Richards — founders, operators, and investors

OUR STORY

Two generations.
One system.

Most venture funds write a check and wish you luck. We built an entire ecosystem — education, tools, and capital connected into one founder development system.

Startup Ignition started with a bootcamp in 2015, training over 1,000 founders. In 2022, we launched the venture fund. In 2026, we built the ToolSuite — an AI-powered validation platform. Each piece reinforces the others.

We don't just evaluate traction. We help founders create it. We've seen what works — and what breaks — at the earliest stage. That's what we bring to every founder we back.

FUNDS AT A GLANCE

FUND I

Pre-Seed

Stage

$100K–$1M

Initial Check Size

B2B / SaaS / AI

Primary Focus

2022

Fund I Vintage

Portfolio Companies

Utah, USA

Investing Nationally

FUND II

Fund II now forming. Interested in investing or building with us, get in touch →

MANAGING PARTNER

John Richards

John is one of the Intermountain West's most prolific angel investors, with over 200 investments across two decades. His portfolio includes some of Utah's most notable exits — Omniture (acquired by Adobe for $1.8B), Fusion-io (IPO), Ancestry, Skullcandy (IPO), and Lyft (IPO).

An early internet veteran from InfoSpace, John went on to teach entrepreneurship at BYU for nearly two decades, managed UtahAngels, co-founded BoomStartup, and led operations for Google Fiber's Provo launch. He created the Startup Ignition methodology — a structured framework for idea validation and founder development that has trained over 1,000 entrepreneurs since 2015.

John doesn't just invest. He teaches founders how to build companies that actually last.

25+ years in startups 200+ investments Multiple IPOs & major exits

CO-FOUNDER & GENERAL PARTNER

Tyler Richards

Tyler founded and exited DevMountain, one of the early coding bootcamps that helped establish the learn-to-code movement. He knows what it takes to build, scale, and exit an education company from scratch.

At Startup Ignition, Tyler leads venture operations and built the ToolSuite — an AI-powered platform that turns decades of startup methodology into a structured validation workflow for founders. Named to Utah's 2025 "40 Under 40" list, Tyler represents the next generation of operator-investors.

He combines modern founder execution with deep ecosystem building — bridging John's decades of investing experience with the tools and systems today's founders need.

Founder of DevMountain Operator-led investor Built & exited in Utah

TRACK RECORD

Billions in exits.
Decades of pattern recognition.

We are not first-time investors learning on your company. We've spent years building, teaching, investing, and working alongside founders at the earliest stages.

Omniture

Acquired by Adobe

$1.8B

Fusion-io

IPO

NYSE

Lyft

IPO

NASDAQ

Skullcandy

IPO

NASDAQ