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As we say goodbye to 2015, we look back on some of the big VC deals we’ve had in Utah. Capital flowing into Utah has been growing and growing, from ~$300 million in 2013, ~$800 million in 2014, and ~$200 million in Q1 2015 alone. A combination of eager entrepreneurs from BYU and the University of Utah, has intrigued investors enough to create a storm of infusion.


Coming in at first place is Utah’s beloved Domo, a leading SaaS platform that helps business leaders with direct access to data. Their ubiquitous billboards dominating I-15 include simple light-blue backdrops with unique, catchy phrases. “Domo is what Willis was talkin’ bout,” “And on the 8th day… Domo,” and Abraham Lincoln, holding a machine gun, riding on the back of a bear, holding a Domo sign are among their more popular billboards. Domo was founded only 5 years ago by Omniture co-founder, Josh James.

On July 22, Domo raised a whopping $235 million from leading investmentDomo 2 firms including Blackrock in a Series D funding round. With those kinds of
people in their corner, I’d say keep pumping those billboards out.


The silver medal goes to Thumbtack, a virtual platform that connects individuals with experienced professionals for help with personal projects such as painting your house or a DJ for your next Star Wars party. On Sep 29, they raised $125 million from Sequoia Capital and others in a Series E round. In all, that puts them at $273 million in funding since they started 8 years ago. Thumbtack offers 1,100 types of services, has 200,000 active professionals, facilitates 5 million projects each year, and generates $1 billion in annual revenue for the professionals who use the site. Thumbtack.com


The bronze medal goes to Health Catalyst, a tech platform that organizes and links health-related data from different systems and makes it available for users. Health Catalyst raised $70 million on March 17 in a Series D round from BYU Cougar Capital, Sands Capital Ventures, and others.


Other notable deals include Inside Sales, a sales training platform, with $61 million in a Series D round from Microsoft and themselves. Hire Vue, a business analytics software company, raised $45 million on June 2 from investors including Sequoia Capital and Peterson Ventures. Instructure, an education software company, raised $40 million in a Series E round from investors including Insight Venture and Open View Ventures.

Utah offers unique investment opportunities in many business-to-business companies and others who have found great talent here in Utah. See our previous blog about Utah’s entrepreneurial atmosphere and its new brand, the “Silicon Slopes.” Deal flow like this further solidifies Utah’s growing startup community and will continue to attract investors. To further understand Utah’s business climate and see how you fit in, please visit us at Preferred CFO.

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