# Highway 12 Ventures

> Highway 12 Ventures is a VC fund in Boise backing Software and SaaS. See 34 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Boise, United States
- Total investments: 34
- Last investment: Jan 2014
- Lead investor: 41%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/highway-12-ventures/
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/hwy12
- Website: https://driver-lyon.fr

Highway 12 Ventures is a VC fund in Boise focused on Software and SaaS. They invest in people, not companies. What kind of people? They place on bets on passionate people who are committed to the ideas and principles that drive their businesses. People who don't know the word "quit," who aren't afraid to enter new territory and face unseen challenges. People who seek a different path, a better way,and who are entrepreneurs at heart.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Highway 12 Ventures. Shizune tracks 5 team members at Highway 12 Ventures. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/highway-12-ventures?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $1.1M–$7.2M |
| Series B | $3.6M–$22M |
| Series C | $3.3M–$22M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 11 | 32% |
| SaaS | 2 | 6% |
| Mobile | 2 | 6% |
| Analytics | 2 | 6% |
| E-Commerce | 2 | 6% |

53 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 12 | 35% |
| Series B | 9 | 26% |
| Series C | 5 | 15% |
| Funding Round | 2 | 6% |
| Seed | 1 | 3% |

6 stages tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Archie Clemins | Venture Partner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/archie-clemins |
| Denise DeCarli | Office Administrator | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/denise-decarli |
| Derek Keller | Principal | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/derek-keller |
| Dick Strayer | Special Limited Partner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dick-strayer |
| Mark Solon | Managing Partner | 22 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mark-solon |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lendio | Lendio is a financial services company. They develop financial applications to offer online loan services. Their application connects small-business owners with banks, credit unions, and lending sources. They provide access to tools and resources to help small business owners manage their cash flow and improve their credit rating. | $22M | Series C | Mar 24, 2015 |  |
| Sphero | Sphero bridges the gap between the real world and the virtual world with its smartphone-controlled robots. It began the connected play revolution in 2010 by creating something unlike anything and they never stopped. They fuse robotic and digital technology into immersive entertainment experiences that ignite imagination and defy expectations.Optimized by data and powered by fun, these ever-evolving experiences are changing the way the world thinks about play. | $20M | Series D | May 05, 2014 |  |
| GutCheck | GutCheck specializes in online agile market research that equips and empowers the world’s most innovative brands to unlock bold new possibilities by harnessing the power of agile technology and human empathy. We empower brands with the insights to make decisions throughout the innovation cycle and meet you where you are in the process. | $4M | Series C | Jan 28, 2014 |  |
| Lendio | Lendio is a financial services company. They develop financial applications to offer online loan services. Their application connects small-business owners with banks, credit unions, and lending sources. They provide access to tools and resources to help small business owners manage their cash flow and improve their credit rating. | $4.5M | Series B | Aug 28, 2013 |  |
| GutCheck | GutCheck specializes in online agile market research that equips and empowers the world’s most innovative brands to unlock bold new possibilities by harnessing the power of agile technology and human empathy. We empower brands with the insights to make decisions throughout the innovation cycle and meet you where you are in the process. | $4M | Series B | Jun 12, 2013 |  |
| Sphero | Sphero bridges the gap between the real world and the virtual world with its smartphone-controlled robots. It began the connected play revolution in 2010 by creating something unlike anything and they never stopped. They fuse robotic and digital technology into immersive entertainment experiences that ignite imagination and defy expectations.Optimized by data and powered by fun, these ever-evolving experiences are changing the way the world thinks about play. | $5M | Series C | May 25, 2012 |  |
| SendGrid | SendGrid is a proven, cloud-based customer communication platform that drives engagement and business growth. SendGrid is a leader in email deliverability and its proven, cloud-based platform successfully delivers over 30 billion emails each month for Internet and mobile-based customers like Airbnb, Pandora, HubSpot, Spotify, Uber and FourSquare aswell as more traditional enterprises like Intuit and Costco. | $21.6M | Series B | Jan 17, 2012 |  |
| Balihoo | Balihoo makes local marketing execution effective, efficient and affordable for national brands and their agenciesBalihoo allows national brands to quickly and easily target customers at the local level and successfully connect them to the websites and landing pages of providers in their vicinity.Our software tackles the mundaneadministrative tasks (setup, maintenance, data updates, etc.) so that you can focus on optimization. Leveraging innovative technology, our engine runs consistently and continuously, thus ensuring that your campaigns stay relevant, active, and data-informed, long after setup. | $5M |  | Jan 12, 2012 |  |
| OpenLogic | OpenLogic helps enterprises maximize these benefits and safely use open source software by providing support, governance, provisioning, consulting, and training solutions. | $2M |  | Aug 16, 2011 |  |
| Sphero | Sphero bridges the gap between the real world and the virtual world with its smartphone-controlled robots. It began the connected play revolution in 2010 by creating something unlike anything and they never stopped. They fuse robotic and digital technology into immersive entertainment experiences that ignite imagination and defy expectations.Optimized by data and powered by fun, these ever-evolving experiences are changing the way the world thinks about play. | $5M | Series B | Apr 07, 2011 |  |

10 of 34 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Village Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/village-ventures) — VC Fund, 17 deals together
- [Appian Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/appian-ventures) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Foundry Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/foundryvc) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Techstars](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/techstars) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [CB Health Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cb-health-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Grayhawk Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/grayhawk-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 3 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Highway 12 Ventures invest in?

Highway 12 Ventures invests primarily in Software, SaaS and Mobile startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 34 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Highway 12 Ventures's check size?

Highway 12 Ventures typically joins rounds of $1.1M–$7.2M at Series A, $3.6M–$22M at Series B and $3.3M–$22M at Series C. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Highway 12 Ventures participates in.

### How do I contact Highway 12 Ventures?

Public channels for Highway 12 Ventures include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Highway 12 Ventures?

The team at Highway 12 Ventures includes Archie Clemins (Venture Partner), Denise DeCarli (Office Administrator) and Derek Keller (Principal). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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