Looking to raise venture funds in the Midwest and trying to figure out who to talk to? Below is a list of funds I believe to be active as of the time of this posting.
Sometimes a really hard starting point is just finding out who to talk to. Finding these guys is harder than it should be, but once you do, you just need to maintain a list.
For the most part, these are funds that are not located on the East or West Coast. There may be some exceptions if a fund is clearly active in the Midwest.
A few items worth mentioning:
- I intentionally left out Angel groups.
- I intentionally left out funds without websites.
- The fund size can sometimes be nebulous. Feedback is welcome.
- This does not include every East and West Coast fund active in the Midwest.
Fund Name | Location | Fund Size |
AAVIN Private Equity | Cedar Rapids, IA | $80M+ |
Access Venture Partners | Denver, CO | ~ |
Adams Street Partners | Chicago, IL | $1B+ |
Advantage Capital Partners | St. Louis, MO | ~ |
Allos Ventures | Fishers, IN | ~ |
APEX Ventures | Chicago, IL | $100M+ |
Arboretum Ventures | Cleveland, OH | $200M+ |
Arch Venture Partners | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Arther Ventures | Fargo, ND | ~ |
Ascension Health Ventures | St. Louis, MO | $500M+ |
Ascent Venture Partners | Boston, MA | $50M+ |
Baird Capital Partners | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Beringea | Farmington Hills, MI | ~ |
Blossom Street Ventures | Dallas, TX | ~ |
Bluestem Capital | Sioux Falls, SD | ~ |
Blue Chip Venture Company | Cincinnati, OH | $500M |
Boulder Ventures | Boulder, CO | ~ |
C3 Capital | Kansas City, MO | $400M+ |
Centennial Ventures | Denver, CO | $1B |
Chicago Ventures | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Chrysalis | Louisville, KY | ~ |
CMA Ventures | Des Moines, IA | ~ |
CME Ventures | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Cultivation Capital | St. Louis, MO | |
Detroit Venture Partners | Detroit, MI | ~ |
Drive Capital | Columbus, OH | $250M+ |
DRW | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Dundee Ventures | Omaha, NE | $15M+ |
Early Stage Partners | Cleveland, OH | $100M |
Edison Ventures | Cleveland, OH | $250M+ |
Farm Bureau | Des Moines, IA | ~ |
FireBrand VC | Kansas City, MO | ~ |
FireStarter Fund | Chicago, IL | ~ |
First Analysis | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Five Elms | Prairie Village, KC | ~ |
Flyover Capital | Kansas City, MO | $100M+ |
Foundry Group | Boulder, CO | $500M+ |
Frontier | Charlotte, NC | ~ |
Greenmont Capital | Boulder, CO | ~ |
Grotech Ventures | Denver, CO | ~ |
High Alpha | Indianapolis, IN | 20M+ |
High Country Venture | Boulder, CO | ~ |
Hyde Park Venture Partners | Chicago, IL | ~ |
JK&B Capital | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Jump Capital | Chicago, IL | ~ |
KDWC | Kansas City, MO | ~ |
Lacuna Capital | Boulder, CO | ~ |
Lewis & Clark | St. Louis, MO | $100M+ |
Light Bank | Chicago, IL | $100M+ |
Ludlow Ventures | Detroit, MI | ~ |
ManchesterStory Group | Des Moines, IA | $31M |
Mercury Fund | Houston, TX | $200M+ |
Midwest Growth Partners | Des Moines, IA | $40M+ |
Mosaix Ventures | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Motorola | Schaumburg, IL | ~ |
MPM Capital | Kansas City, MO | $1B+ |
New Capital Fund | LIttle Chute, WI | $40M+ |
Next Level Ventures | Des Moines, IA | $40M |
Noro-Moseley Partners | Atlanta, GA | ~ |
OCA Ventures | Chicago, IL | $100M+ |
Open Air Equity Partners | Kansas City, MO | ~ |
Open Prairie Ventures | St. Louis, MO | $100M+ |
Origin Ventures | Chicago, IL | ~ |
Prairie Crest Capital | Des Moines, IA | ~ |
Prolog Ventures | St. Louis, MO | ~ |
Rev1 | Columbus, OH | $20M+ |
River Cities Capital Funds | Cincinnati, OH | $100M+ |
RiverVest Partners | St. Louis, MO | $200M+ |
Rockport Capital | Boston, MA | ~ |
Sequel Venture Partners | Boulder, CO | ~ |
Spectrum Equity | Boston, MA | $4B+ |
SSM Partners | Memphis, TN | ~ |
Sunbridge Partners | Beachwood, OH | ~ |
Venture Investors | Madison, WI | $200M |
Vista Ventures | Boulder, CO | ~ |
There are more that I know I’m missing.
If you have recommendations on funds I missed, please post them in the comments and I’ll add them. You can also contact me on Twitter with the addition.
Please also feel free to reach out with corrections in the comments as well. This list will need to evolve over time.
Ben Milne is a co-founder of Clay & Milk and the founder of Dwolla, a technology company in Des Moines.
2 Comments
Tej Dhawan
May I suggest a version 2.0 edit? Highlight the VC firms who have been active in C&M’s footprint. So, if the footprint is upper midwest, highlight those who have led or followed an investment in IA/MN/NE/MO/ND/SD over the past 24-36 months. It may make the list more usable.
Ben Milne (@bpmilne)
Would love to make this addition in the future. Any additions you have or comments you’d be comfortable sharing about activity is super helpful.
Segmenting down to series and sector focus will also save founders and investors a lot of time.
Comments are closed.