Fulfilling on the first word in its name -- "grow" -- Grow Utah Ventures, the equity fund chartered with becoming the largest private-sector driver of economic development in the state of Utah, is underway with direct investments as well as the rallying of investments by and support services for its network of angel financiers.

On the heels of Grow Utah's lead role in funding backup and recovery provider Revinetix, each of three "angels" (groups of private investors) that Grow Utah Ventures has established throughout northern Utah today announced participation in funding the disk-based computer backup company.

Three newly formed groups of angel financiers -- Salt Lake City-based Olympus Angels; Weber/Davis County-based Ogden Angel Investors; and Logan-based Cache Valley Venture Accelerator Club -- all have followed Grow Utah's lead in funding Revinetix. Backup industry pioneer David Norton, one of the founders of Utah business success story Iomega, represents Grow Utah on the board of directors for Revinetix, following Grow Utah Ventures' intent to provide not just funding, but an entire infrastructure for success to entrepreneurial companies it invests in.

"The across-the-board funding of Revinetix is a milestone for Utah angel investing," noted Alan E. Hall, chair and founder of Grow Utah Ventures. "This represents an early stage investment opportunity that has been fully grasped by a network of angel financiers from varied regions in Utah." Hall added, "In the due diligence phase of evaluating the investment opportunity, angels from different clubs and regions shared their unique technical expertise and perspective -- to the benefit of not just their own or their club's own investment opportunity, but to the mutual benefit of the whole angel network. This type of synergy and true cooperation in evaluating early stage deals is what Grow Utah Ventures is seeking through its vigorous support of Utah angel clubs."

In addition to the March 2006 funding of Revinetix, last month Grow Utah announced a lead investment in FundingUniverse.com, the online service provider linking entrepreneurs and angel investors. In addition to a leadership role as a "Round A" investor, Grow Utah will benefit from its association with FundingUniverse.com by leveraging the Web site -- www.fundinguniverse.com -- as the technical infrastructure for communication between the network of angel investors throughout the state Grow Utah is helping form.

Along with the technical infrastructure for angel investors throughout the state of Utah, Grow Utah is forging greater synergy among angel investors in the state. Later this month Grow Utah is hosting an invitation-only meeting for established angel investors as the organization looks to increase the formation of angel groups throughout the state and increase win-win interaction among angel participants from varied geographies and business interests.