Brad Bertoch
Bradley B. Bertoch, after 35 years, recently retired as President/CEO of VentureCapital.org (aka Wayne Brown Institute)—a 501-c-3 nonprofit, nationally recognized, entrepreneurship organization. With a 70% funding rate, and 80% of its Alumni still in business after 10 years, the Institute is the oldest and most successful non-profit venture accelerator in the country. He is a leader in equity-backed business development, capital formation, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. Under his direction, Utah companies participating in an Institute venture program have generated over $30 billion in financial transactions. VCO Utah Alumni companies are estimated to produce $4.5 billion in annual revenue, created over 45,000 jobs in Utah, and paid over $150 million annually in State taxes. Brad assisted in the founding and was a member of SLC and Park City Angel groups and was a venture partner with Hamilton Bio-Ventures Fund II. VCO founders also founded Utah’s first venture fund (Pelion). He is currently an active angel and venture investor, serves on small company Boards, and a co-founder and past board member of the MountainWest Capital Network served on the Boards of the Mountainlands Revolving Loan Fund, USTAR’s SBIR Advisory Board, and served on the Utah Legislature’s Optimization Commission. He was instrumental in transforming Salt Lake County’s Revolving Loan Fund into a highly successful venture debt fund, a $7 million fund that VentureCapital.org ran. He also assisted Zions Bank in the creation of a venture debt loan product. He has developed relationships with many venture firms, such as Allegis, EPIC Ventures, Pelion Ventures, Sorenson Capital, Peak Ventures, Signal Peak Ventures, Accel Partners, and major corporations such as Micron, UPS, and Rocky Mountain Power. In addition, he and his team have created venture/commercialization programs that led to sustainable initiatives in Arizona, Alabama, California, Texas, Illinois, Utah, Hawaii, New York and Idaho. Brad has served on various Governor’s Task Forces on Capital Formation, technology commercialization, infrastructure development, and government efficiency for the State of Utah. He is an Honors graduate of the University of Utah and holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.