The Build Fund Research
Investment Thesis
The Build Fund is a Provo, Utah pre-seed fund founded in 2024. Its tagline is "We Hook. We Lift. We Release." The fund describes itself as providing seed capital to start-up companies, with the goal of helping promising ventures scale, create economic growth and generate regional impact. It connects great ideas with early-stage capital.
The thesis is traction-first. The site says it hooks "what's already proven": real revenue, real users, real metrics, with no speculation. Founders are told to apply only if their load is proven and validated. The pitch is that messy early rounds cause dilution, noise and a cap table that scares off later investors, so a clean, decisive early-seed check sets a company up for Series A.
How the Fund Works
The site frames the model in three steps:
- Hook: lock onto companies with proven revenue and traction.
- Lift: wire capital quickly on clean terms, extend runway, and add intros, playbooks and an operator network (buyers, talent, operators).
- Release: step out of the way at the next round, with no perpetual overhang, so the cap table stays clean.
The site claims founders it has backed see 5-10x ARR growth in 12-18 months. That figure is a marketing claim with no cited evidence. The fund also links founders to iHub (Innovation Hub of Utah), a mentorship booking page and a pitch deck template.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and early seed. Applicants must already have revenue and customers. The application asks for requested investment, entity type, current valuation, revenue range, cap table, burn rate, pro forma, key customers, pipeline and exit timeline and strategy. A second-stage due diligence form (Zone 2) collects the org chart, financials, formation documents, bylaws or operating agreement, shareholder agreements and IP documentation.
Check Size
Not published. The site gives no range. Check size fields are left empty rather than guessed.
Lead Tendency
Unknown. The only disclosed investment, Spot Parking, is a multi-investor round alongside Tandem Ventures, Ollin Ventures and the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. The Build Fund's role in that round is not stated.
Recent Activity
PitchBook lists one investment, Spot Parking (Business/Productivity Software), with the latest investment dated 10 April 2025. Spot Parking is a Lehi, Utah company building AI-assisted camera-based parking enforcement software. It was founded in September 2023 and has raised about $1.9M. No fund size, fund close or other announcements were found. Fund status is unknown.
Portfolio Highlights
- Spot Parking (spotparking.com): the only publicly disclosed portfolio company. The site's own Portfolio link did not resolve to a page (the /portfolio URL returns a 404).
Note: buildfund.org is a different organization, an Indiana CDFI small-business loan fund, and is unrelated to this firm.
Team
- Todd Westra: Managing Partner since November 2025. He is a Utah operator, podcaster and keynote speaker focused on helping companies get growth ready. He is also associated with Fortress Technologies.
- Savana Betts: Operations Specialist since December 2025. She was previously an intern at iHub (Innovation Hub of Utah).
LinkedIn lists 2 to 10 employees at 1555 Freedom Blvd, Provo, UT 84604.
Decision Process
Not disclosed. The firm is very small, so decisions likely sit with the managing partner. This is an inference, not stated anywhere. Applications go through an online form, followed by a due diligence information request.
Founder Preferences
Founders with proven, validated traction: paying customers, real revenue and a clean cap table. Pre-revenue idea-stage companies are explicitly not the target. Applicants are expected to have a pitch deck, pro forma financials and a mentor reference.
Geographic Focus
Utah-based. PitchBook notes the firm prefers to invest in Utah, and the stated mission references regional economic impact. The site does not state a hard geographic restriction.
Gaps and Uncertainties
- No published check size, fund size, AUM or fund vintage.
- Portfolio is limited to one disclosed company. The stage of the Spot Parking investment is not sourced.
- No partner emails or LinkedIn profile URLs were verified beyond search listings.
- The thebuildfund.com site has no working Portfolio or About pages at the URLs tried.