A Note to Wisconsin Founders

Following the May 29, 2024 announcement from WEDC, NVNG will now be making direct investments in Wisconsin startups through our involvement with the Wisconsin Investment Fund. As part of our Fund I, we’ll be investing $12 million in Wisconsin startups.

We’re eager to invest in and partner with some great Wisconsin founders and help bring their visions to life both through investments and by leveraging the power of the NVNG network.

We’d like to provide some guidance about what NVNG and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation are looking for as criteria for these investments.

WEDC is seeking Wisconsin-based companies:

• With more than 51% of employees here in Wisconsin.
• With fewer than 500 FTEs.
• Without SSBCI Insiders on either the management team or on the cap table.
• With proposed investment rounds at less than $20 million in size.
• With proposed investments less than $5 million.

NVNG is seeking:

• Early-stage companies from Seed to Series A.
• Companies with existing revenues, preferably recurring or supported by a long-term contract.
• Experienced founding teams with relevant domain experience solving an important problem.
• Companies with existing corporate customers or multiple pilots leading to meaningful uptake.
• Companies with business plans that contemplate an exit within 5-7 years.
• Companies with qualified co-investment partners on the cap table. We’d prefer to partner with other venture capital firms.
• QNBV qualified companies preferably.

Do you think your business might be a fit for investment from NVNG? If so, please reach out. Here’s a form for you to tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re building.

And if your company is not a great fit for NVNG, remember that there are several other funds that are part of the Wisconsin Investment Fund who might be interested in what you’re doing.