Next Level Ventures is a Des Moines, Iowa-based venture capital firm founded in 2013 that makes early-stage and growth equity investments in technology-driven companies. The firm targets sectors including agriculture and biosciences, SaaS, artificial intelligence and machine learning, fintech, health tech, telecommunications, and other technology-enabled businesses, often taking minority stakes. Typical deal sizes range from $0.5 million to $5 million, with larger transactions possible through investment partners. The firm supports portfolio companies beyond capital through operational guidance, strategic advice, and networking to help drive growth and profitability. It seeks to partner with management teams to build value and, where appropriate, join the board of portfolio companies to provide governance and strategic oversight. Based in Des Moines, the firm emphasizes investments in Iowa and U.S.-based technology and innovative sectors.

Ag Startup Engine is a pre-seed investment group and venture network focused on advancing agricultural technology by connecting early-stage startups with investors and industry partners. Based in Ames, Iowa, it aims to address gaps in seed funding and structured mentorship for agtech ventures in the Midwest. The organization pursues opportunities across robotics and drones, software as a service, financial technology, precision agriculture, animal health, livestock automation, and clean technology sectors. It seeks to build a comprehensive ecosystem supporting ag entrepreneurs through funding, networking, and problem-solving, led by Executive Director Joel Harris, with Co-Directors Colin Hurd and Kevin Kimle and Venture Partner Mikayla Mooney.

ISA Ventures is a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based venture capital firm and fund manager that focuses on supporting Iowa-based companies across sectors such as biotechnology, healthcare and medical technologies, education technology, engineering and automation, agriculture and food processing, insurance and finance technologies, and transportation and logistics. The firm pursues early-stage, expansion, and later-stage investments, providing capital to grow portfolio companies while prioritizing operations within Iowa.

Innova is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on AgTech and FarmTech, providing the first institutional check and working with founders to improve farmer profitability. Founded in 2007, it funds startups in areas such as crop inputs, labor automation, on-farm data capture, and decision-support software, with initial checks typically ranging from $250,000 to $2 million. The firm supports portfolio companies with strategic guidance to scale and connects them with industry partners for licensing, collaboration, or follow-on investments. Through its Memphis affiliate, Innova also operates in biosciences, technology, and agtech sectors, reflecting an expanded footprint across the United States. Overall, Innova seeks to accelerate the development of agricultural technologies that enhance efficiency and profitability for farmers and farm operations.

Ames Seed Capital is a venture capital firm based in Ames, Iowa, founded in 1987. It specializes in early-stage and expansion investments in startups and targets opportunities in Ames, Story City, Nevada, Huxley and surrounding Story County communities.

Prairie Crest Capital is a venture capital firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 2016, it invests in early-stage companies, particularly in agricultural technology and other technology sectors, with a focus on seed and Series A investments across the United States. The firm also provides business development support to portfolio companies.

ManchesterStory Group is a venture capital firm based in West Des Moines, Iowa, focused on InsurTech, FinTech, and HealthTech. It backs early-stage to growth-stage companies across the insurance, financial services, and healthcare sectors, prioritizing strategic partnerships and long-term collaboration with industry participants. Backed by a network of 24 insurance carriers, brokers, and wholesalers, ManchesterStory maintains a portfolio of about 50 companies and actively engages founders through initiatives such as open office hours and innovation challenges. The firm emphasizes collaboration across the insurance value chain, supporting portfolio companies as they scale and partner with incumbents to accelerate growth and bring innovative solutions to market.

InnoVenture Iowa is a publicly funded venture capital fund established in 2022 in Iowa and headquartered in Des Moines. Backed by federal SSBCI capital and partnerships with the Iowa Economic Development Authority and BioConnect Iowa, it focuses on early-stage investments across bioscience, ag-tech, advanced manufacturing, information technology, life sciences, SaaS, and AI. The fund aims to strengthen industries, create jobs, and foster economic growth within the state, and has invested in more than 40 companies. It actively seeks startup founders for investment and operates through an Investment Committee to evaluate opportunities.

UnityPoint Health Ventures is the venture investment arm of UnityPoint Health, based in West Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 2019, it invests in early-stage companies in healthcare, including digital therapeutics, health information technology, medical devices, diagnostics, and technology-enabled services. Its investments aim to support ideas that improve experiences for patients and providers.

Ag Ventures Alliance accelerates Agricultural Technology innovation by connecting farmers and startup founders. It serves as an R&D partner for its 300+ farmer members, facilitates investment opportunities through Countryside Angels, conducts farm trials to test new products, and provides access to a network with over 25 years of agtech experience. The organization supports startups through the entire product development pipeline, from testing to customer acquisition, with the aim of improving resilience and profitability in American agriculture.

Right Side Capital Management is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that employs a quantitative, data-driven approach to fund technology startups at the earliest stages. Founded in 2012, it concentrates on capital-efficient companies that are generating revenue and typically seeks rounds of 50,000 to 500,000 dollars, often outside the traditional SF Bay Area and NYC hubs. The firm targets pre-product-market fit ventures across the United States and Canada, making a high volume of investments—hundreds of portfolio companies and more than two thousand investments since inception—with a philosophy of rapid, transparent decision-making and broad post-investment engagement. Its team leverages extensive operational experience to provide hands-on mentorship in areas such as sales, marketing, fundraising, and operations, aiming to support startups through critical growth phases and facilitate later-stage partnerships. RSCM positions itself as an operating-style fund focused on supporting founders, not a standard VC, and emphasizes building a diverse, founder-focused community through events and guidance.

Ulu Ventures is a Palo Alto based venture capital firm that invests in seed and early‑stage technology companies. Founded in 2008, it backs businesses across enterprise software, fintech, healthtech, sustainability, edtech, and blockchain, with additional emphasis on internet-enabled consumer and business services, digital media, mobile, and online advertising. The firm typically co-invests with other angels or venture funds, contributing roughly 500,000 to 1,000,000 per opportunity. It emphasizes diverse founding teams, including women, minority, URM, and immigrant founders, viewing diversity as a driver of performance. Ulu operates with a regional focus on the Bay Area, particularly Silicon Valley, and supports portfolio companies through strategic guidance and networks.

Hard Yaka is an investment firm based in Crystal Bay, Nevada, founded in 2010–2011, that focuses on technology-driven opportunities across payments, digital identity, messaging, and exchange-related platforms. The firm engages in early-stage investments as well as private equity activities in buyouts and distressed opportunities, aiming to back technology-enabled businesses and digital transformation initiatives including regtech and marketplaces. Through a broad portfolio, Hard Yaka has facilitated over three billion dollars in investments and supports companies worldwide.

Craft Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that funds early-stage and growth companies across consumer, enterprise, and financial services, with a focus on business-to-business technology. The firm blends entrepreneurial experience with investing acumen and emphasizes a founder-first approach, providing access to playbooks, senior talent, and a high-value, low-maintenance partnership to help founders build scalable, enduring companies. Founded in 2017, Craft Ventures aims to back innovative teams and technologies by combining strategic guidance with hands-on support, leveraging a team of experienced operators and investors to identify next-generation opportunities in emerging technologies.

Union Square Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2003 that focuses on early-stage to growth-stage internet companies. It concentrates on the applications layer of the web, internet services, and web services that create large networks, with emphasis on businesses that generate network effects across sectors such as social media, marketplaces, developer tools, learning, health, fintech, web3 and decentralized systems, technology, and climate. The firm typically makes initial investments around 1 million dollars and can participate in larger rounds up to about 20 million dollars, often taking a lead role and working closely with founders to support growth. It pursues investments across major markets globally, including New York, San Francisco, London, and Berlin.

Rand Capital provides debt and equity financing to privately held, lower-middle-market companies, along with support for their growth and development. It invests across industries including healthcare, consumer products, manufacturing, software, and professional services, with a focus on companies in Western and Upstate New York and nearby regions, including parts of Canada. The company is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

RiverPark Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York that is industry-agnostic and invests in the future of enterprise technology and the evolution of consumer behavior. It backs high-growth, disruptive businesses with proven models and favors opportunities with clear leadership and market focus. The firm provides portfolio companies with guidance and access to a broad network to support expansion, and it targets companies generating preliminary revenue. RiverPark Ventures emphasizes entrepreneur-led partnerships and pragmatic, founder-friendly collaboration to help portfolio companies scale.

Company Ventures is a New York-based early-stage venture capital firm that backs startups in healthcare, fintech, data, artificial intelligence, software-as-a-service, and enterprise software. The firm emphasizes a community-driven approach, operating a physical space that enables daily founder collaboration, mentorship, and investment opportunities. It focuses on generational AI companies at the application, data infrastructure, and model augmentation levels, and engages with ventures through hands-on support and capital both within its community and beyond. Its alumni residency program comprises 208 portfolio companies that have collectively raised over $5 billion, illustrating the firm's commitment to helping founders build and scale early-stage ventures.

S2G Investments is a Chicago-based multi-stage venture capital firm focused on food, agriculture, oceans, and energy sectors. It provides capital to venture and growth-stage companies pursuing market-driven solutions to transform food systems and energy resources. The firm supports entrepreneurs and leadership teams with strategies intended to deliver increased value and better performance than conventional options. Its investment approach spans seed to growth, with a cross-sector portfolio across areas such as agriculture, ingredients, infrastructure and logistics, food safety and technology, retail and restaurants, and consumer brands. S2G manages over $2.8 billion in assets and has backed more than 120 portfolio companies.

Launchpad Digital Health is a U.S.-based early-stage venture capital firm focused on digital health. Based in Emeryville, California, it partners with digital health entrepreneurs at an early stage to build companies that aim to improve care, lower costs, and increase patient convenience. The firm provides significant capital, with seed investments up to about $1 million and $2-3 million in Series A and B rounds. Its founders have funded and operated numerous healthcare and technology companies over the past two decades, positioning Launchpad as a leading investor in the digital health space. The firm seeks to foster growth and disrupt traditional healthcare models by supporting technologies such as remote diagnostics and monitoring, electronic health records, data analytics and big data, healthy living and wellness, patient compliance, and independent living support.

GGV Capital was a global venture capital firm that separated into Granite Asia and Notable Capital on March 29, 2024. Granite Asia is headquartered in Singapore and operates across Asia-Pacific, including Southeast Asia, Japan, China, India, and Australia. Notable Capital is based in Silicon Valley, with offices in San Francisco and New York, and invests in the United States, Israel, Europe, and Latin America.

Notable Capital is a United States-based venture capital firm that backs early-to-growth stage companies across cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, fintech, and consumer and business applications with a global footprint in the United States, Israel, Europe and Latin America. The firm emphasizes backing notable founders from idea to exit and leverages 25 years of experience to support portfolio companies as they scale. It manages about $5 billion in assets and has a track record of IPOs from its portfolio. Notable Capital seeks opportunities in the evolving AI landscape, including security, design tooling, and the future of work, and its portfolio includes names such as Quince, Slack, Vercel, Zendesk, HashiCorp, Airbnb, and Affirm.

Evergreen Climate Innovations is a Chicago-based organization that provides early-stage investment and hands-on support to startups developing climate technologies. It works across the Greater Midwest, supporting innovation in areas such as renewable energy, energy storage, building efficiency, water, agriculture, advanced materials, and mobility.

Great North Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Maple Grove, Minnesota, founded in 2017. It focuses on early-stage investments in vertical AI and embedded finance, seeking disruptive technology companies across the United States from seed to Series B. The firm provides guidance, capital, and connections, emphasizing execution over hype. It targets startups outside Silicon Valley and is led by former operators with experience building and scaling companies. It has raised multiple funds and invested in over 50 startups.

Kudu Investment Management is a New York-based investment firm that provides permanent capital solutions to independent asset and wealth management firms. It makes minority stake investments designed to facilitate ownership transfers, partner liquidity, management buyouts, and acquisition or growth financing, while enabling managers to retain control and independence. The firm emphasizes a long-term partnership approach, offering risk-sharing capital and value-add services to support growth without imposing liquidity mandates. Founded in 2015, Kudu aims to align its interests with existing principals and to back firms through flexible capital and strategic collaboration, acting as a steady partner rather than a traditional exit-focused investor.

Define Ventures is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm focused on digital health and healthcare technology. Founded in 2019, it partners with entrepreneurs to redefine healthcare by leveraging its network, strategic support, and capital to help value-driven founders build category-defining companies. The firm manages around 800 million dollars under management and invests in early-stage digital health platforms, AI-driven clinical care solutions, and telehealth services. Its portfolio includes Hims & Hers, FOLX Health, Unite Us, Cohere Health, and Waltz Health. Define Ventures emphasizes principled partnership and leadership to advance the healthcare ecosystem.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, Foundry Group is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage information technology, internet, and software companies across the United States and Canada.

Cabra VC is a venture capital firm founded in 2016 and based in Riga, Latvia, with a global investment scope across the United States, Europe, India, and other regions. It invests across seed, early, and growth stages in high-growth technology companies in consumer, enterprise, and software sectors, with emphasis on SaaS, B2B, and subscription-based business models. The firm provides strategic support in business development, fundraising, and legal matters to help portfolio companies expand internationally.

Trinity Capital is a venture debt and equipment financing provider that supports emerging growth and venture-backed technology and high-growth companies in the United States. Working with venture capital firms, private equity, and technology lenders, it offers debt solutions including senior and subordinated term loans, asset-backed financing, equipment leases and lines of credit, and refinancing to enable strategic growth while preserving equity. The firm typically targets deals ranging from $2 million to $20 million and pursues customized structures with limited covenants, often alongside syndicate partners for larger transactions. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Trinity Capital focuses on technology, software, hardware, healthcare, energy, and related sectors, serving revenue-generating companies across growth stages. The company emphasizes flexible capital solutions that align with portfolio companies' growth plans without significant equity dilution.

AXA Venture Partners is a global investment platform based in Paris, France, that supports high-growth technology companies across Europe and North America. It invests across stages and sectors including enterprise software, fintech, insurtech, digital health, and cybersecurity, and provides founders with strategic guidance, connections, and support for business expansion. The company operates from Paris, London, and New York.

Casdin Capital is a New York-based venture capital and investment firm focused on the life sciences and healthcare sectors. Founded in 2012 by Eli Casdin, the firm backs companies across genomic research, molecular medicine, precision medicine, diagnostics, synthetic biology, oncology, digital health, and related technologies. It pursues a data-driven, long-term investment approach and seeks to form strong partnerships with portfolio companies to advance scientific innovation and improve patient outcomes. The firm engages with ventures at various stages, from early- to late-stage private companies, emphasizing opportunities at the intersection of biology and technology. Through its activity in life sciences and healthcare, Casdin Capital positions itself as a partner to founders pursuing breakthroughs in genomics, molecular medicine, and AI-enabled healthcare platforms.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hyde Park Angels is an early-stage investment firm focused primarily on the Midwest. It invests in seed and early-stage companies across technology, healthcare, business and financial services, consumer, and industrial sectors. Its people-first approach combines investment capital with operating expertise and a business network to support company growth.

Firebrand Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on software startups, especially in communities underserved by traditional venture capital. Founded in 2016 and based in Overland Park, Kansas, it maintains offices in Austin and Boulder and Kansas City. The firm targets technology companies based in the United States and Canada and pursues seed- and early-stage investments, offering strategic support and partnerships to founders to help them scale.

OpenView Venture Partners is a Boston-based venture capital firm founded in 2006 that invests in expansion-stage software and technology companies across North America. It works with founders to help their businesses grow, offering support with hiring, customer acquisition and retention, and industry connections.

UnitedHealth Group is a diversified healthcare company in the United States that operates through two main platforms, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, with OptumHealth, OptumInsight, and OptumRx as principal components. It offers health insurance plans and related services, as well as a broad range of health services including care delivery, software and information solutions, analytics, and pharmacy care. The company serves individuals, employers, and government programs through a combination of consumer and provider payment systems, network-based services, and data-driven care management designed to improve access, affordability, and health outcomes. UnitedHealth Group leverages clinical data and technology to redesign and automate administrative processes, enhance decision-making, and support its provider and payer ecosystems. With global reach and large scale, the group aims to drive value across its healthcare delivery and benefits businesses, partnering with providers, communities, and policymakers to extend access and improve care.

Builders VC is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that targets early-stage technology-enabled companies aimed at modernizing legacy industries. It invests across traditionally underserved sectors such as healthcare, agribusiness, industrials and real estate, and offers operational support to help founders scale. The firm backs startups innovating at the intersection of technology and new business models, with a portfolio that includes maritime transport with hydrofoiling vessels (Navier), consumer spending optimization (Upside), construction site efficiency (Fieldwire), synthetic biology for ecosystem restoration (Colossal), behavioral health risk management (Neuroflow), livestock performance optimization (Livestock Analytics) and an AI-driven timber marketplace (Timbereye). It has participated in financings for companies such as Astromech and Askari Defense and has backed Verily.

Nassau Street Ventures is a venture capital fund for alumni of Princeton that invests in companies with a Princeton connection.

HealthX Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Madison, Wisconsin, investing in seed- and early-stage digital health and healthcare technology companies in the United States. It focuses on software, healthcare services, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, supporting scalable solutions intended to improve healthcare access, efficiency, safety, and affordability.

Alumni Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in startups from seed through late-stage, including pre-IPO companies, and provides strategic capital and support to founders. It gives accredited investors access to diversified venture portfolios and co-investment opportunities, including investments in companies connected to alumni communities. The firm is based in Manchester, New Hampshire, and operates across North America, with additional offices in London and Tokyo.

Trimble is a global technology company delivering precision solutions for construction, geospatial, transportation, government, and natural resources. It provides software and hardware that connect digital and physical workflows, enabling field and mobile workers to be more productive through positioning technologies such as GPS, lasers, and optics. Its offerings include ProjectSight for construction project management, Trimble Connect for team collaboration, and Trimble SketchUp for 3D modeling, as well as AI-enabled capabilities and platform integrations. The company operates in three main areas: AECO software for architects, engineers, construction and owners; Field Systems hardware and software; and Transportation and Logistics solutions for long-haul trucking and freight. Trimble aims to streamline workflows, reduce risk, and improve project outcomes for customers worldwide. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Trimble was founded in 1978.

Khosla Ventures is a California-based venture capital firm founded in 2004 that backs technology-driven startups across multiple sectors, including artificial intelligence, healthcare, sustainability, digital health, and consumer technology. The firm provides capital and strategic guidance to companies at early and growth stages, with an emphasis on disruptive technologies and world-changing businesses. It operates a range of funds, including seed and later-stage vehicles, and maintains a broad investment thesis that covers AI, climate tech, energy efficiency, and other high-potential areas, primarily focused in the United States. The firm is known for working closely with entrepreneurs to build long-lasting companies.

Stanley Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Stanley Black & Decker, investing in early-stage startups that aim to redefine industries. It targets sectors such as software as a service, electrification, autonomy, construction technology, and advanced materials, and leverages Stanley's assets to accelerate growth. The firm provides strategic value beyond capital through industry expertise, supplier relationships, and access to Stanley Black & Decker's customer base and brand network, facilitating commercial collaborations and market validation. It often participates in syndicated rounds with other investors, aligning funding with strategic objectives and the potential to scale with Stanley's ecosystem. By combining capital with access to global distribution and technical resources, Stanley Ventures supports startups in bringing innovative solutions to practical, real-world applications, while reinforcing Stanley Black & Decker's reach into high-growth adjacent markets.

Greenspring Associates is a United States-based fund-of-funds investment firm, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland. It provides financial and investment advisory services and manages commingled funds and customized partnerships for a global client base, including institutions and individuals across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. The firm focuses on venture capital, investing in established and emerging fund managers as well as secondary venture capital investments, and it supports opportunities across early and growth stages of venture-backed companies. In 2021, Greenspring Associates was acquired by StepStone Group.

Western Technology Investment is a California-based venture debt firm founded in 1980 and headquartered in Portola Valley. It provides debt financing and venture lending to technology and life sciences companies at early to growth stages, offering fully usable growth capital and, in select cases, equity alongside debt. The firm emphasizes founder-friendly terms and minimizes dilution, often using warrants in client companies. Investments typically range from $250,000 to $30 million and target revenue-generating ventures with at least $25 million in annual sales within five years. Capital is raised from institutional limited partners, and the firm supports a broad portfolio across technology and life sciences, including notable names such as Facebook, Google, and Juniper Networks.

Mutual Capital Partners is a venture capital firm based in Westlake, Ohio, that backs healthcare information technology and medical device startups in Ohio and the Midwest. Beyond capital, MCP acts as a strategic partner, offering fundraising support, networking opportunities, and expert guidance to portfolio companies. The firm emphasizes strong management teams, seeks growth-ready ventures with potential for expansion, and provides due diligence assistance, customer introductions, and ongoing counsel to executives. It collaborates with angel funds and economic development entities to facilitate growth and works with portfolio companies outside major tech hubs to accelerate scale and market adoption.

Research Corporation Technologies is a biomedical technology company based in Tucson, Arizona, focused on driving life sciences innovation through the development and licensing of technologies that enable the discovery and manufacture of therapeutics and diagnostics. The company both develops its own technologies and licenses breakthrough tools to industry on a nonexclusive basis, and it collaborates with entrepreneurs, inventors, and innovators to translate biomedical inventions into commercial products. Through its RCT Ventures program, it provides experience, expertise, and funding to selected ventures. Notable offerings include CH2 Domain Scaffold ABDURINS, the ClearColi Expression System, and VIMPAT (lacosamide). It participates in industry events and seeks partnerships to accelerate translation of research into practical medical solutions.

Mid-America Angels is a regional network of accredited investors that identifies and funds early-stage companies. It participates in seed, Series A, and Series B rounds depending on the capital raise and provides a framework to pool the members’ knowledge, experience, and investment capital. Founded in 2006, the organization is based in Kansas and Oklahoma and focuses on the Kansas-Missouri region around Kansas City, typically investing between $250,000 and $1,500,000 per opportunity.

Grit Road Partners is a venture capital firm based in Omaha, Nebraska, founded in 2021, focused on investing in AgTech startups with emphasis on the Midwest. The firm supports early-stage AgTech companies that address challenges faced by Midwest producers, aiming to establish the Midwest as a leading global hub for AgTech innovation. It pursues active involvement in the AgTech community through partnerships with industrial agribusinesses, producers, and universities to provide portfolio companies with access to practical farmer, rancher, and processor insights. Grit Road Partners also maintains an extensive deal flow network with more than 100 global members, linking Midwest innovation to international markets and fostering growth, job creation, and community strength.

Cultivian Sandbox Ventures is a Chicago-based venture capital firm that specializes in food and agriculture technology. The firm targets next-generation companies addressing critical industry challenges such as evolving demographics, globalization, sustainability, and food safety, with the goal of accelerating commercialization across the entire food and agriculture value chain. It combines industry experience with an active, hands-on approach, often serving on boards and helping portfolio companies with strategy, leadership recruitment, and capital formation. Backed by strategic partners, the firm seeks to generate value by supporting portfolio companies beyond financing, leveraging networks to foster collaboration and scale. Founded in 2008, Cultivian Sandbox aims to advance sustainable production, equitable distribution, and healthier consumption by nurturing innovations that improve efficiency, safety, and resilience within the global food system.

Primary Venture Partners is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm based in New York that backs technology companies from pre-seed through Series A. While focused on New York based startups, it invests globally in B2B software, SaaS, mobile, information technology, enterprise software, commerce, manufacturing, energy, and fintech sectors. The firm combines capital with an extensive operating platform, including an Expert Network of more than 200 technology operators, a Talent Program led by recruiting veterans, and advisory resources in finance, market development, and growth strategy to help founders hire, win customers, and raise subsequent rounds. This support aims to accelerate product-market fit and scale, positioning portfolio companies for rapid growth and stronger outcomes.