citybiz+ Boulder Ventures Closes 8th Fund at $58 Million

Boulder Ventures, which was founded in the 1980s by Baltimore lawyers Larry Macks and Josh Fidler, has closed a $58 million fund, the eighth in the history of the venture firm based in Boulder, Colo., with a Mid-Atlantic office in Chevy Chase, Md.

“My partners and I closed Boulder Ventures VIII on November 21, 2022 at $58 million. We are ready to guide the next cycle,” partner Kyle Lefkoff, 62, said in a blog post.

“Cheap money and bull markets make everyone look like an expert, especially the noobs who trumpet their illiquid successes as if they matter. They don’t – what matters is the ratio of Distributed to Paid in Capital (DPI), the only long-term measure of a fund’s success,” the experienced alpinist and mountain guide added.

So far, the Boulder Fund has raised about $371.1 million from seven funds. Its portfolio investments this year include PlayMetrics, Zhongyin Microelectronics, Mineralys Therapeutics and PeopleReign.

Lefkoff has been “investing in startups since 1985, and guiding since 1976.” He also cofounded Array BioPharma in 1998, serving as its chairman until August 2018, when the company’s first cancer drug received FDA approval. In 2019, Array was acquired by Pfizer for $11.8 billion.

With over 60 portfolio investments from 11 venture funds, and after “guiding hundreds of clients in the mountains of Colorado, Canada, and Europe over the past 40 years on skis and on rock,” Lefkoff believes that “being a mountain guide and being a venture capitalist is the same thing.”

citybiz+ Sponsors

Of his investments, 12 have led to initial public offerings (IPOs) and 15 to acquisitions. Some of Lefkoff’s portfolio investments include Hauser Chemical Research (Nasdaq: HAUS), NeXstar Pharmaceuticals (sold to Gilead Sciences), Compatible Systems Corp. (sold to Cisco Systems), Wall Street on Demand (sold to Goldman Sachs), Horizon Organic Dairy (sold to Dean Foods), and Fresh & Wild (sold to Whole Foods).

citybiz+ Cohorts

Lefkoff, who has in the past served as chairman of the Venture Capital Association of Colorado, was also an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business. He received his B.A. in Economics from Vassar College (summa cum laude) in 1981 and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago. An avid mountaineer, Lefkoff was a member of the 1986 American Expedition to the North Face of K2 and is a lifetime member and past director of the American Mountain Guides Association.

The Boulder Fund’s original founders — Lawrence M. Macks and Josh E. Fidler — now run Chesapeake Realty Partners, based in Owings Mills, Md. Macks serves as chairman and CEO, while Fidler is co-chairman and chief operating officer. Macks is a member of the Maryland Bar. Fidler was formerly a practicing attorney with Paul, Weiss in New York.