Midwest.VC invests in amazing products made by exceptional entrepreneurs in the Midwest.
Our belief (and the data confirms) is that while the quantity of amazing companies in the Bay Area & NYC is unlike anywhere else in the world - collectively, the Midwest produces outsized returns & game-changing companies.
We are based in Chicago, with deep connections in Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, & Michigan. We are slowly expanding our footprint into Ohio, Kansas City & Nebraska.
In the Midwest, you’ll find opportunities in Logistics, Transactional Consumer Based businesses, (Groupon, Spothero, Cameo, Grubhub, etc) “Digital Classifieds”, FinTech, AgriTech, & service-based businesses that address the needs of small businesses, legal, & real estate. Luckily, we have experience in most of these & will share carry with our network where we don’t have industry expertise.
Why are we All-In on the Midwest?
Limited Investment - It’s very hard to raise money in the Midwest, no matter what articles you’ve read. Only a few make it through the wire each year, and those that do - generally become great businesses with investor friendly valuations.
Great Talent: There’s great talent here in Chicago, but only so many funded startups that can meet the demand. We have two of the top business schools in the world, most Big-Ten graduates end up here at some point in their career, & elite quant talent stemming from prop trading firms.
Cost of living: The cost of living is 30-50% of what it is in the Bay Area or NYC. This allows for much longer runways & overall less spend.
Big Fish, Small Pond: If you’re trending towards being successful in the Midwest, the local press will adore you. Teams win awards & get huge PR coverage for (IMO) standard progress in the coasts.
Focus: The Midwest loves sports, trading, farming, logistics, healthcare & real estate. These are some of the biggest industries in the world & all the connections necessary to win in these markets can be found here.
The Pre-Seed / Seed market is practically non-existent in the Midwest since most of the VC’s here have moved upstream to late Seed / Series A ($500k+ Investments). This has left a loose network of Angels with a FOGI (Fear of Getting In) that I have not experienced on the coasts. Moreover, the risk capital hasn’t moved from the CME for early stage companies & is still focused in prop-trading firms, real-estate & PE.
How will we get our deals?
Network: We’ve been apart of some of the largest & fastest growing tech companies in Chicago: Groupon, Cars, CME, Uber, 1871, Lightbank, etc.
Angel Groups: We’re part of a few angel groups in Chicago.
Accelerators: We’re advisors at the various accelerators throughout the region: 1871, TechStars, Gener8tor, STL, Polsky, etc.
Universities: We’re connected into the Big Ten, UChicago, Notre Dame & the other Chicago-based universities.
Events: In 2020 we will start monthly pitch events, something which is sorely missing in this ecosystem.
The Midwest
We define the Midwest as the following:
Chicago, Wisconsin (Madison + Milwaukee) Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati) Detroit, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Des Moines & Kansas City.
Participation
You never have any obligation to invest, but as a backer, you will have the opportunity to invest alongside us in every deal. You'll get a guaranteed allocation in every deal so you don't miss out on those deals you choose to invest in. We are particularly interested in bringing value-added co-investors into our deals and our syndicate is a good way to do that.
About Us
You can read more about us on our site:
