Royal Street Ventures

Royal Street Ventures (RSV) is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2012 with offices in Kansas City, Missouri and Utah, operating as a partnership of operators who have built and sold businesses of all sizes. The firm invests in technology and technology-enabled startups building scalable solutions to real-world problems in under-capitalized markets -- primarily the Mountain West, Midwest and Southeast, with select engagement in the Pacific Northwest and California -- and positions itself as the first institutional money in many of the companies it backs. RSV is co-led by Managing Partners Laura Brady and Jeff Stowell, with Venture Partners Maggie Kenefake and Stephanie Song. The firm has invested in approximately 55 companies across its multi-fund platform, which includes a third fund that closed at $16.4 million in 2020 and an active Seed Fund IV. The portfolio has produced 12 acquisitions, including Tonic, NotiSphere and ArtCraft Entertainment. Sector concentrations span enterprise applications, health technology, vertical SaaS and fintech. The firm remains actively deploying: 2025 activity included a new investment and a follow-on into Salad, with the most recent disclosed deal being Sonara Health's Seed VC-II round in August 2025. RSV brings a rich operational heritage -- the founders trace a family legacy dating to 1895 in ventures including Sears and CBS. Royal Street Ventures' competitive advantage in under-served regional markets comes from its partners' standing as known operators and founders in those communities. This first-institutional-money positioning allows the firm to build conviction-based relationships with founders before they come to market, resulting in proprietary access to deals that coastal funds rarely see at the seed stage.