How many investments has UpStart Ventures made?

UpStart Ventures has 16 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited.

What stage does UpStart Ventures invest at?

UpStart Ventures invests at the Seed, Series A stages.

What sectors does UpStart Ventures focus on?

UpStart Ventures focuses on Biotech, Digital Health, Healthtech, Medical Devices.

Where is UpStart Ventures located?

UpStart Ventures is headquartered in Salt Lake City, US.

Who does UpStart Ventures co-invest with?

UpStart Ventures most often shares deals with aMoon, EPIC VENTURES, Kickstart, among 6 tracked co-investors.

UpStart Ventures

Venture capital

Salt Lake City · Seed–Series A · 4 people tracked

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Find your way into UpStart Ventures

8 people in our graph share verified history with the UpStart Ventures team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Nadia Altomareunlockedknows Dennis Farrar · together at Sera Prognostics

×7knows the team · via Sera Prognostics

✨ Fox Verdict

Investment thesis

UpStart focuses on seed and early-stage healthcare investing, backing companies founded on breakthrough technologies emerging from major research universities centered in Utah and surrounding states. Target opportunities include medical devices, drug delivery systems, and diagnostics, along with longer-horizon investments in biopharma products and platforms. The firm's core belief is that more value is generated through the formation and hands-on initial management of leading-edge life science companies than through traditional venture investing in pre-existing companies at either early or later stages.

Invests inBiotech Digital Health Healthtech Medical Devices Salt Lake City United States

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

Stage

Seed–Series A

Salt Lake City, Utah, US

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2009

AUM

$20M

Tracked investments

IPOs

Team · 4 people

from the firm's website & public directories

Dennis Farrar· Managing Director

Farrar has over 17 years of seed-stage venture investing and launched the Founders Fund, which invested in nine university life science technologies. A former attorney and co-founder/CEO of Q Therapeutics, he holds a BA and JD from Stanford University.

d•••@upstartvc.comreveal

Steve Borst· Managing Director

Borst has extensive experience operating venture-backed life science companies and managing VC firms, having worked at Pelion Ventures, Frontenac Company, and Capital Health Venture Partners, as well as portfolio companies like Q Therapeutics. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School.

s•••@upstartvc.comreveal

Mary Campos· Administrative Assistant· Croydon, Utah, United Statesin

Campos is an experienced administrator with nearly three decades in senior administrative roles, including 14 years at American Express and 5 years at medical device startup MedQuest.

Stephanie Sorensen· Financial Controller

Sorensen joined UpStart in 2012 as Financial Controller for the firm and several portfolio companies, with 25 years of operational and financial roles across pharmaceutical, telecom, and software companies. She holds a BS from BYU and an MBA from the University of Utah.

What they invest in

from 2 of 16 portfolio companies

Biotech ×2Digital Health ×2Healthtech ×2FemTech ×1Medical Devices ×1

HQs:United States×2

Investments · 16 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

Sera Prognosticsseraprognostics.com in 𝕏NASDAQ: SERAJan 2017

Sera Prognostics develops women's health diagnostics focused on pregnancy, including the PreTRM blood test that predicts an individual's risk of spontaneous preterm birth in singleton pregnancies and the LikeMine platform that compares pregnancy outcomes using U.S. pregnancy data.

BiotechDigital HealthFemTechHealthtechSalt Lake City, US

Douglas Fisher(Executive Officer)Jay Moyes(Executive Officer)inGregory C. Critchfield(Executive Officer, Director)in Andrew A. Sauter(Executive Officer)inZhenya Lindgardt(President and Chief Executive Officer)in

BoardMansoor Mirza(Director)

Board seatDennis Farrar· per SEC Form D

Co-investorsaMoon Excelestar Ventures OUP (Osage University Partners)Vivo Capital Catalyst Health Ventures Domain Associates

PhotoPharmicsphotopharmics.com in 𝕏

PhotoPharmics is a clinical-stage medical device company developing non-invasive, light-based photo-neuromodulation therapies for neurodegenerative disease, with a focus on Parkinson's disease.

BiotechDigital HealthHealthtechMedical DevicesSalt Lake City, US

Kent Savage(Executive Officer, Director)

Board Gavin Christensen(Director)inTed Stanley(Director)Daniel Adams(Director)

Co-investorsKickstart

Other

Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.

Catheter ConnectionsComplexaContraDynDecipher GenX, Inc.EluteG6, Inc.JST ResearchMedAnalyticsMedCathetersNeuroAdjuvantsNumira, Inc.Q TherapeuticsVeritractXableCath

Exits · 1

1 IPOs

Sera PrognosticsNASDAQ: SERA

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has UpStart Ventures made?: UpStart Ventures has 16 tracked investments, 1 of which have exited.
What stage does UpStart Ventures invest at?: UpStart Ventures invests at the Seed, Series A stages.
What sectors does UpStart Ventures focus on?: UpStart Ventures focuses on Biotech, Digital Health, Healthtech, Medical Devices.
Where is UpStart Ventures located?: UpStart Ventures is headquartered in Salt Lake City, US.
Who does UpStart Ventures co-invest with?: UpStart Ventures most often shares deals with aMoon, EPIC VENTURES, Kickstart, among 6 tracked co-investors.

Images

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