Run Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Run Ventures is a Salt Lake City-based early-stage venture capital firm that launched publicly in September 2025 with a $290 million debut fund. The firm was founded by Brandon Tidwell and Ben Dahl, veteran investors who previously worked together across two funds at Signal Peak Ventures. Run's stated philosophy, reflected in its name, is to be a "running partner" to founders: encouraging, coaching, and pushing them forward with a deeply engaged, roll-up-your-sleeves approach rather than passive board observation.
The firm's current investing thesis, articulated in partner essays under "Perspectives," centers on the transition from software that merely answers questions to software that acts autonomously. Recent partnered companies span the emerging "agentic enterprise" stack: runtime security and governance for autonomous AI agents (Eve Security), predictive/probabilistic intelligence layers built on proprietary data (Theo Ai in legal, Inhouse Ai in SMB legal automation), and physical-world sensing/safety intelligence for robotics and industrial automation (Algorized). One partner essay, "The Autopoietic Enterprise," lays out a forward-looking thesis on self-directed, self-correcting, self-governed AI-run companies, and explicitly flags four investable layers: hardware, compute, data (described as "the layer I find most compelling"), and human-machine interaction.
Sector Focus
Run Ventures' current portfolio and public commentary point to concentration in:
- AI infrastructure and agentic AI tooling (Algorized, ContextOS)
- Legal AI / legal operations software (Theo Ai, Inhouse Ai, Filevine, Ironclad)
- Cybersecurity, specifically AI agent runtime security and governance (Eve Security, Monarx)
- Defense tech and autonomous systems (Vector)
- Healthtech (Alta Smiles, Authenticx, PocketRN)
- Enterprise/vertical SaaS more broadly (ClientSuccess, Graphite Connect, Continuum, Everee, 401GO)
- Fintech and payments (Hubpay, InvestSky)
- Consumer and commerce (Chatbooks, DRESSX, invygo, Yofi)
Stage Focus
Run Ventures' primary strategy is leading Series A rounds, with selective participation at seed. The firm's founding announcement explicitly describes it as "an early-stage venture capital fund focused on leading Series A investments," while "also selectively participating in seed-stage investments." Recent deal activity bears this out: Algorized's $13M Series A was led by Run, while Eve Security's seed extension, Inhouse Ai's seed round, Theo Ai's early round, and Alta Smiles' Series Seed extension were all early-stage checks led or co-led by the firm.
Check Size
Based on disclosed round sizes for deals Run has led: seed checks in the roughly $3M-$5M range (Theo Ai $3.4M, Inhouse Ai $5M) up to Series A leads around $13M (Algorized). Total fund size is $290M, supporting meaningful ownership targets and reserves for follow-on.
Lead Tendency
Run Ventures leads. Its own positioning, GP quotes, and a majority of its recent disclosed rounds (Eve Security, Alta Smiles, Inhouse Ai, Algorized, Theo Ai) show the firm as lead investor. It does also participate in larger syndicated rounds as a non-lead when following on in existing portfolio companies (Filevine's $400M round led by Insight/Accel/Halo; Vector's $61M Series A led by Pelion Venture Partners; Authenticx's $20M Series B led by Blue Heron Capital).
Recent Activity
Run Ventures has been actively deploying since its September 2025 launch:
- September 2026: Led Eve Security's $4.5M extension, bringing its seed round to $7.5M (AI agent runtime security).
- July 2026: Led Alta Smiles' Series Seed extension (orthodontic technology).
- March 2026: Led Inhouse Ai's $5M seed round (SMB legal AI), with Royal Street Ventures, Switch, and LegalZoom co-founder Brian Liu participating.
- February 2026: Led Algorized's $13M Series A (edge-native physical AI/safety), with the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Acrobator Ventures.
- November 2025: Led Theo Ai's $3.4M round (predictive litigation AI), bringing the company's total funding past $10M.
- September 2025: Participated in Filevine's $400M growth round (legal operating intelligence), led by Insight Partners, Accel, and Halo Fund.
- September 2025: Participated in Vector's $61M Series A (autonomous defense systems), led by Pelion Venture Partners.
Portfolio Highlights
Run Ventures' publicly tracked portfolio spans over 50 companies, reflecting both new Fund I investments and legacy relationships the founding partners carried over from their prior fund, Signal Peak Ventures (the firm's investor-relations portal still runs on Signal Peak's ShareFile instance). Notable names include Filevine (legal ops platform, most recently raising $400M at a large valuation), Authenticx (healthcare conversational intelligence), Degreed (workforce upskilling), Bark (child online-safety technology), Ironclad (contract lifecycle management), The Muse (career platform), CometChat, Chatbooks, ClientSuccess, and Everee. Brandon Tidwell separately cites C7 Data Centers and Solutionreach among his personally-led notable investments prior to Run's founding, though those are not listed among Run's currently tracked portfolio companies.
Team
- Brandon Tidwell, General Partner — Co-founder of Run Ventures. Previously Managing Director at Signal Peak Ventures and Canopy Ventures; earlier practiced law in Silicon Valley. Notable prior investments led include Bark, C7 Data Centers, Degreed, Filevine, and Solutionreach. B.S. and Master's in accounting from BYU, JD from Columbia.
- Ben Dahl, General Partner — Co-founder of Run Ventures. Previously a partner at Pelion Venture Partners, where he backed Cloudflare, Integral Ad Science, and Soasta. AB from Princeton, JD and MBA from UC Berkeley, MBA from Columbia.
- Porntepp Ungvichian, Partner — Former COO of an early-stage startup, one of the first 20 employees at SoftBank Vision Fund, helped scale Pluralsight through its $3B IPO, and built strategy at LVT during hypergrowth. BYU undergrad, Duke MBA.
- Phil Williams, Partner — Leads investments from diligence through the board table. Prior operating/finance roles at Amazon, Allegiance Software (acquired by Qualtrics), and Logoworks (acquired by HP). MBA and BS in Finance from BYU.
- Barrett Edgington, Principal — Focuses on capital formation, allocation, and portfolio management. Prior roles in corporate innovation at NFL Labs and NBC Universal, employee #30 at BloomReach, strategy consulting at Deloitte, finance roles at Square 1 Bank and Peterson Ventures. MBA and BS in Strategy from BYU.
- Gabriela Porras, Senior Associate
- Kathryn Ivancovich, Associate
- Travis Heath, Administrative Partner & CFO
- Adam Eliason, Controller
- Erika Morgan, Head of Investor Relations
- Mahmood Ibrahim, Partner – Investor Relations
- Scott Petty, GP & Senior Advisor
Decision Process
Run operates as a multi-partner team (two General Partners, two Partners, one Principal, and supporting associates/operations staff) rather than a solo-GP shop, consistent with a partnership decision process. Phil Williams is described as leading deals "from diligence through the board table," suggesting individual partners drive sourcing and diligence with partnership-level investment decisions.
Founder Preferences
Run's public partner writing repeatedly emphasizes founders with intense curiosity, directness, and technical depth who are creating category shifts rather than participating in them (their language describing both Algorized's and Theo Ai's founders). The firm explicitly favors founders building outside the traditional Silicon Valley/NYC/Boston corridor, citing rising tech hubs like Austin, Denver, and Atlanta, and positions itself as structurally suited to lead there given its Salt Lake City base and national connectivity.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Run Ventures was explicitly built on the premise of investing beyond the coasts, targeting high-growth ecosystems such as Austin, Denver, and Atlanta in addition to its home Utah/Mountain West market, in contrast to traditional Series A firms that concentrate near Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston.