Cheyenne, Wyo – The Wyoming Business Council (WBC) is excited to announce its latest direct equity investments from the federally funded Wyoming Venture Capital (WYVC) Fund. The WYVC team closed 2025 with strong momentum, supporting three Wyoming startups – Alpyn Beauty (Alpyn), UserEvidence (UE), and Derapi – as they scale for national and global markets.
Alpyn Beauty; Wilson, WY
Alpyn Beauty was founded in 2018 by beauty industry leader, Kendra Kolb Butler and Co-founder Ryan Butler, while running a local retail store in Wilson, Wyoming. Alpyn is the first skincare brand to sustainably hand-harvest mountain plants from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and infuse them into clean, clinical formulas to magnify their potency and effectiveness. They partner with Wyoming botanists, naturalists, and farmers to cultivate local plants and support ongoing sustainability efforts in Grand Teton National Park. Their products can be found in Sephora stores nationwide. WYVC has supported the innovative company in its latest equity funding round.
“Alpyn is a great example of a Wyoming origin story, identifying a gap in the skincare market and pivoting from a local shop selling other companies’ products to creating their own,” said WYVC Senior Associate Rylan O’Bryan. “The company will use the funding to support the expansion of its marketing team and inventory, and we’re thrilled to be part of this homegrown growth story.”
UserEvidence (UE); Jackson, WY
Leveraging a SaaS platform for enterprise sales teams, UserEvidence automates the collection of customer feedback and instantly transforms it into a library of third-party verified assets, including branded slides, infographics, and statistical snapshots. Founded by previously successful entrepreneurs Ray Rhodes and Evan Huck in 2020, the company was built to solve the content bottleneck – the manual process of creating case studies and testimonials. WYVC participated in the company’s Series A investment round led by existing investors. This capital will enable the company to grow its in-person sales team and offer competitive wages to its employees in the state.
“The UE team has become an outstanding member of the Wyoming startup ecosystem and continues to support other companies in the region through efforts like Silicon Couloir’s Pitch Day,” noted Gordon Finnegan, WYVC Managing Director.
Derapi; Jackson, WY
WYVC also finalized a direct equity investment in Derapi, which provides a universal API to connect and control distributed energy resources (DERs). This solution serves as the critical “connective tissue” between energy software developers and the fragmented world of hardware, including solar inverters, battery storage systems, and electric vehicle chargers, to create efficiencies in the grid. The company was founded in 2022 and, in 2024, brought on CEO Stina Brock, an avid supporter of the startup ecosystem in Wyoming, to scale the business. Brock has supported efforts like Poppy, a female-centric coworking space in Jackson, and Silicon Couloir, an organization focused on supporting entrepreneurship locally.
“Wyoming offers immense talent tucked in corners of the state, and remote work options allow people to plug into larger initiatives such as Derapi,” Brock shared.
WBC Investments Director Bert Adam added, “By providing both capital and support, WYVC can help address the funding gap in the state and support startup-minded leaders, like Brock, to help other startups achieve success.”
This investment will enable the company to expand its team and support the connection and coordination of millions of smart energy devices nationwide, empowering innovation at the intersection of energy, software, and the grid.
As these three companies work toward future success, our WYVC team remains focused on the next wave of growth through ongoing diligence in collaboration with multiple partners. These investments represent the ongoing demand for the WYVC Direct strategy, which catalyzes co-investment opportunities in exchange for equity in high-growth startups across the state.
About Wyoming Venture Capital
Through federal funds provided by the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), the Wyoming Business Council launched Wyoming Venture Capital (WYVC) in early April 2023. Designed to support the innovation and growth needs of entrepreneurs across the state, WYVC is an equity financing option for Wyoming high-growth companies with a focus on future exit opportunities.
WYVC utilizes two investment strategies – the Direct Strategy and Funds Strategy – to support the growth of Wyoming entrepreneurs. The program targets contributing 20 percent to selected funds or companies’ fundraising rounds, with a maximum of up to a 50 percent contribution, or $5 million. Ultimately, both strategies are designed to support in-state companies and to help bridge early gaps in startup equity funding.
Contact Information
Rylan O’Bryan
Venture Development Manager
Wyoming Business Council
[email protected]
Gordon Finnegan
Equity Portfolio Manager
Wyoming Business Council
[email protected]
