Steve Grizell

Steve Grizzell is the Managing Director of InnoVentures Capital Partners in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he has built a decades-long career at the intersection of entrepreneurship, finance, innovation, and economic development. His work in the field dates to the mid-1980s, when he began consulting for organizations including the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Global Payments. Over his career he has been directly responsible for more than 200 funding transactions, the majority of which involved technology-based companies.

At InnoVentures, Grizzell leads one of the oldest and largest alternative business lenders in Utah, having deployed more than $30 million in small-business loans since 2001. Through InnoVentures Capital Management he oversees SBA-licensed Small Business Investment Companies and a non-profit lender that provides venture debt to early-stage companies. The firm is authorized as a lender with HUD, EDA, and USDA, and its flagship Utah Small Business Loan Fund provides growth capital to innovative small businesses across the western region.

Grizzell has been active in the broader venture and entrepreneurship ecosystem, serving on the boards of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF), the Wasatch Venture Fund, MountainWest Venture Group, and the Utah Valley Entrepreneur Forum. His international consulting has taken him to Morocco, Norway, Romania, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines; he speaks Indonesian and is an avid skier.

Academically, Grizzell holds an MBA from the University of Utah, a Master's in Computer Applications in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a B.S. in Anthropology from Michigan State University.

• Provides growth capital primarily through debt financing — loans of $50,000 to $250,000 with interest rates starting around 8% and repayment terms up to 7 years — rather than pure equity angel checks.
• Focuses on revenue-generating small businesses with demonstrable cash flow and good credit, explicitly rather than pre-revenue concepts: the firm "focuses on companies with sales history and operational cash flow."
• Sector-agnostic: funds "all types of businesses including software, service businesses, manufacturing and even restaurants," having backed logistics, healthcare/neuro-medical, payments, and eLearning companies.
• Positions the firm as a partner to high-growth Utah companies — in his words, *"The fastest growing companies in Utah look to InnoVentures for growth capital."*
• Emphasizes founder-friendly terms as a differentiator: *"Our loan terms are some of the best in the state...interest rates as low as 8% and repayment terms of up to 7 years."*
• Deep ties to Utah's seed/venture infrastructure via board seats (NASVF, Wasatch Venture Fund, MountainWest Venture Group, Utah Valley Entrepreneur Forum).