Halo Fund

Halo Fund Research

Investment Thesis

Halo Fund, operating legally as Halo Experience Company (HxCo), is a growth-stage technology investment platform co-founded in April 2025 by Ryan Smith and Ryan Sweeney. The fund was built around a core conviction: the drivers of sustainable growth have fundamentally changed. Capital and connections alone are no longer sufficient. Sustainable growth now requires harnessing cultural momentum — particularly at the convergence of sports, entertainment, and technology — to break through market barriers, define categories, and reach the customers and partners that matter most.

The firm's name is drawn from the "halo effect": companies that prove their products in the highly visible sports and entertainment environment benefit from brand endorsement that accelerates adoption across the broader market. Ryan Smith's sports ownership positions — Utah Jazz (NBA), Utah Mammoth (NHL), Real Salt Lake (MLS), and Utah Royals (NWSL) — serve as a real-time market intelligence network and a live testing ground for portfolio companies.

"Sports now owns the majority of the experience economy," co-founder Ryan Sweeney noted at launch. "Coming out of Covid, the rush to the experience economy, both from businesses and consumers, is honestly unlike anything I've seen in my investing career."

Stage Focus

Halo Fund is a growth-stage investor. All confirmed investments are in companies that already have significant revenue traction and established business models. The fund targets approximately 24 portfolio companies per fund cycle, consistent with a concentrated growth equity strategy.

• Filevine: Late-stage VC, $400M round (Aug 2025)
• 1Password: Secondary transaction at $6.8B valuation (Oct 2025)
• Flex: Series B and Series B1 rounds ($60M Dec 2025, $70M Jul 2026)

Check Size

Individual check sizes have not been publicly disclosed but can be inferred from portfolio activity. The fund deployed nearly $300M across 8 companies in its first nine months, implying an average check of approximately $35–40M:

• Contributed the largest share (~$75M) of 1Password's $100M secondary sale
• Led Flex's $70M Series B1 round
• Co-led Filevine's $400M equity round alongside Insight Partners and Accel

Implied typical check size: $25M–$100M.

Lead Tendency

Halo leads or co-leads its investments. Evidence: led Flex's $70M Series B1, contributed the largest share ($75M) of 1Password's $100M secondary, and co-led Filevine's $400M with Insight Partners and Accel.

Fund Status and Recent Activity

Halo Fund is actively deploying from its inaugural fund (target: $1 billion). The first close — described as "most of the money" — occurred at launch on April 8, 2025. As of Q1 2026, nearly $300M had been deployed across 8 portfolio companies.

• April 2025: Fund launched, first close on most of capital.
• August 2025: Co-led Filevine's $400M equity financing (largest raise in Utah history) alongside Insight Partners and Accel.
• October 2025: Led $100M secondary sale of 1Password founders' stake at $6.8B valuation; Halo contributed ~$75M.
• December 2025: Flex's $60M Series B (Halo as existing investor).
• July 2026: Led Flex's $70M Series B1 (unicorn at $1.2B valuation).

Portfolio Highlights

• Filevine (filevine.com): Legal operating intelligence platform based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Uses AI to transform legal workflows, fusing AI and legal work into one intelligent platform. $400M equity round in August 2025 — the largest raise in Utah history. Co-investors: Insight Partners, Accel.

• 1Password (1password.com): Password manager and digital security platform valued at $6.8B. In October 2025, Halo purchased approximately $75M of a $100M founders' secondary stake at the company's last primary round valuation. Co-investors in secondary: Flume Ventures.

• Flex (flex.one): AI-native private banking platform for high-net-worth business owners in the middle market. Launched 2023. Led Flex's $70M Series B1 in July 2026. Unicorn at $1.2B valuation. The company reports 4x YoY revenue growth at a 9-figure annualized revenue run rate and $10B+ annualized total payment volume. Halo's rationale: the sports platform — spanning NBA, NHL, and Formula 1 — provides distribution into millions of successful middle-market business owners who are Flex's target customers.

Five additional portfolio companies remain publicly undisclosed. Ryan Smith has confirmed that at least two are Utah-based.

Team

• Ryan Smith — Co-Founder & General Partner. Founder and Executive Chairman of Qualtrics (acquired by SAP for $8B, subsequently taken private for $12.5B). Owner of Utah Jazz (NBA), Utah Mammoth (NHL), Real Salt Lake (MLS), and Utah Royals (NWSL). Provo, Utah. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryan-smith-3417901

• Ryan Sweeney — Co-Founder & General Partner. Partner at Accel for many years. Led Accel's investment in Qualtrics in 2012, beginning the Smith-Sweeney partnership. Minority investor in the Utah Jazz. Transitioning full-time to Halo Fund; maintains some existing Accel board seats.

• Sarah Machado — Team Member. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarah-machado-015ab3174

• Bradley Cagle — Team Member

• Maxwell Sloat — Team Member

Total team: 5 employees per LinkedIn, with team-building ongoing in both San Francisco and Utah.

Decision Process

Two-GP partnership model. Ryan Smith and Ryan Sweeney are co-GPs with equal standing. Administrative and back-office operations are supported by Accel. Halo may co-invest with Accel, though it is not required to do so.

Geographic Focus

United States, with particular emphasis on Utah (Mountain West) and California (Palo Alto / Silicon Valley). The fund explicitly champions the Utah tech ecosystem; at least two confirmed portfolio companies (Filevine and two unnamed) are Utah-based. Dual offices in Sandy, Utah and Palo Alto, California.

Founder Preferences

Based on portfolio evidence, Halo Fund prefers founders leading high-growth, revenue-generating companies in enterprise software, fintech, and cybersecurity. The fund favors:

• Companies with demonstrated revenue traction and established business models
• Businesses that can leverage sports and entertainment distribution networks for customer acquisition or brand building
• Founders who have been operating in their space for many years with strong track records
• B2B technology companies serving large, underpenetrated addressable markets

Strategic Differentiation

Halo Fund's unique value proposition is access to Smith's professional sports platform spanning the NBA, NHL, MLS, and NWSL. Portfolio companies gain distribution to millions of fans and business owners, brand credibility through association with major sports properties, real-world product testing in high-visibility venues, and a network spanning sports executives, major corporate sponsors, and media partners.

The firm explicitly positions sports as a vertical comparable to healthcare, education, or government — a multi-trillion-dollar economy that touches every other sector and serves as an accelerant for technology adoption.