Next Level Ventures is a Des Moines, Iowa-based venture capital firm founded in 2013. It focuses on early- and growth-stage technology companies, with sector emphasis on ag-tech, SaaS, artificial intelligence and machine learning, fintech, health tech, and related fields, including ag/bio, B2B data, and other tech-enabled sectors. The firm typically writes checks ranging from 0.5 to 5 million dollars and seeks minority stakes, often with board participation. It supports portfolio companies with financial, operational, and networking assistance to help scale. The firm backs a broad regional portfolio, including companies in agriculture, banking, insurance, biosciences, advanced manufacturing, and information technology, and operates as a registered investment adviser.

Ag Startup Engine is a venture capital firm based in Ames, Iowa, focused on supporting early-stage agricultural startups in the Midwest. It provides seed funding and structured mentorship to companies in robotics and drones, software as a service, fintech, precision agriculture, animal health, livestock automation, and related agtech and clean-tech sectors, aiming to bridge gaps in early capital and guidance. The firm connects founders with experienced regional entrepreneurs and investors, offering funding alongside networking and problem-solving support to accelerate growth and innovation in the agricultural technology ecosystem. Founded in 2015, it is led by Joel Harris (Executive Director), Colin Hurd (Co-Director), Kevin Kimle (Co-Director), and Mikayla Mooney (Venture Partner).

ISA Ventures is a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based venture capital firm founded in 2019. It operates as a multi-stage investor focused on growing Iowa-based companies across biotechnology, healthcare and medical technologies, education technologies, engineering and automation, agriculture and food processing, insurance and finance technologies, and transportation and logistics. The firm emphasizes working with startups at various stages—from early to expansion and growth—providing strategic guidance, industry connections, and capital to support scalable development and potential exits anchored in Iowa.

Ag Ventures Alliance (AgVA) is an organization that accelerates agriculture technology innovation to improve resilience and profitability for American farmers. It acts as an outsourced research and development partner, connects farmers with investment opportunities through Countryside Angels, and provides access to farm trials, market validation, and a network of industry experts. AgVA enables farmer-to-farmer and farmer-to-founder networking and draws on 25 years of agtech experience to support growth and expansion. The organization helps farmers explore innovative technologies and gives startup founders credible access to an engaged audience.

Innova Memphis is a Tennessee-based venture capital firm founded in 2007 by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation. It focuses on pre-seed, seed and early-stage investments in biosciences, technology, and agri-tech companies located in Tennessee. The firm provides capital and support to help startups develop and scale, including assistance in connecting with potential licensees, strategic partners, and opportunities for follow-on investments or acquisitions. By backing innovative ventures with strong technical capabilities, Innova Memphis aims to accelerate product development, market entry, and economic growth within the state.

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.

UnityPoint Health Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of UnityPoint Health, based in West Des Moines, Iowa. Established in 2019, it makes early-stage investments in healthcare and related technology sectors, including digital therapeutics, health information technology, tech-enabled services, medical devices, and diagnostics, seeking partnerships and opportunities that advance patient care and support healthcare providers.

Prairie Crest Capital is a Des Moines, Iowa-based venture capital firm founded in 2016. It focuses on early-stage investments in agriculture technology and related innovations, targeting seed and Series A rounds across the United States. The firm leverages its financial and operating experience to provide funding and development support to promising companies poised for accelerated growth.

ManchesterStory Group is a West Des Moines, Iowa-based venture capital firm focused on early- to growth-stage investments in InsurTech, FinTech, and HealthTech across the United States. It partners with insurance carriers, founders, and investors to accelerate innovation and scale portfolio companies in these sectors. The firm maintains a network of roughly 24 insurance carriers, brokers, and wholesalers to support portfolio growth and enable rapid deployment of solutions. Founded in the mid-2010s, ManchesterStory seeks long-term partnerships that help entrepreneurs move from concept to deployment, providing strategic guidance alongside capital. The firm’s approach centers on collaboration with ecosystem players to accelerate the development and adoption of technology-driven offerings in financial services, insurance, and healthcare.

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.

Mairs & Power Venture Capital is a venture capital firm based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that partners with high-potential venture-stage companies in the Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and the Dakotas). It invests across software, business services, healthcare, fintech, edtech, and other growth sectors, typically starting with around $1 million and offering follow-on capital up to twice the initial amount. The firm emphasizes technology strength, capable management, sizable addressable markets, solid valuation, and ESG considerations when evaluating opportunities, seeking founders with compelling growth prospects and clear exit options, often via mergers and acquisitions. The team includes General Partners John Bergstrom and Scott Burns, a Senior Associate, and a Fund Operations Associate, and it leverages the broader Mairs & Power network to provide capital, strategic counsel, and industry connections to support portfolio companies.

S2G Investments is a Chicago-based, multi-asset investment firm that targets venture, growth, and multi-stage opportunities in food and agriculture, oceans, and energy. It provides capital and strategic backing to entrepreneurs pursuing market-driven solutions to reshape food systems and energy resources. The firm backs companies across the food value chain, including agriculture, ingredients, infrastructure and logistics, safety and technology, retail and consumer brands, and ocean-focused ventures. With a track record spanning more than a decade and a substantial committed capital base, S2G emphasizes interconnected, policy-sensitive sectors and aims to drive sustainable innovation and enhanced value for portfolio companies.

Ulu Ventures is a California-based venture capital firm founded in 2008 and headquartered in Palo Alto. It specializes in seed and early-stage technology investments across enterprise software, B2B and B2C platforms, healthtech, fintech, sustainability, edtech, blockchain, digital media, mobile, and internet-enabled services, with a preference for Bay Area opportunities. The firm often co-invests with other angels or venture firms, typically committing between $500,000 and $1 million. Ulu emphasizes diverse founder teams, including women and minority founders, and applies data-driven, risk-adjusted decision making to identify high-potential opportunities. It operates as a registered investment adviser and focuses on markets where there is potential for scalable exits. The overview highlights Ulu’s trajectory as a seed and early-stage investor backing disruptive ideas within the technology sector.

Craft Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm specializing in early-stage and growth technology investments. It backs founder-led teams across sectors such as enterprise software, consumer technology, and financial services, focusing on scalable and durable business models. The firm blends entrepreneurial experience with investment insight through a team of former founders, operators, and investors who favor practical, high-value collaboration. Craft Ventures aims to help portfolio companies scale by providing strategic guidance and access to senior talent, with a focus on emerging technologies. Notable investments include ElevenLabs and Comfy, reflecting an interest in AI-enabled and platform-driven startups.

Hard Yaka is a venture capital firm based in Crystal Bay, Nevada, established in the early 2010s. It focuses on technology investments and aims to drive universal access to fundamental services such as payments, digital identity, and communications. The firm backs early-stage technology companies, including those building payments platforms, digital identity solutions, and related financial infrastructure, as part of a broader interest in digital transformation and regulatory tech. Through its portfolio, Hard Yaka has supported numerous startups across payments, digital identity, and banking sectors.

Union Square Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2003 that backs internet-focused companies across the early to growth stages. It concentrates on the applications layer of the web, internet services and web services that create large networks and network effects, with additional interest in mobile, marketplaces, developer tools, learning, fintech, health, climate tech, cryptonetworks, and blockchain-enabled opportunities. The firm typically makes initial investments around $1 million and can participate up to about $20 million in a single company, often taking a lead role and actively collaborating with founders. Its portfolio includes companies across major tech hubs such as New York, San Francisco, London, and Berlin, reflecting a global approach to identifying opportunities at scale in the internet economy.

Initialized Capital is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that backs early-stage technology startups, with a primary focus on seed investments. It provides long-term support to founders through mentorship and resources to help companies progress from inception to growth. The firm invests across a diverse set of technology sectors, including software, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, sustainability, health, consumer technology, and crypto, reflecting a broad technology orientation and commitment to disruptive innovation.

Great North Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2017 and based in Maple Grove, Minnesota. It invests in early-stage United States companies from Seed to Series B, with a focus on disruptive technologies such as vertical AI and embedded finance. The firm seeks teams that can translate innovative technology into tangible business outcomes and emphasizes execution, drawing on the operational experience of its founders. It provides guidance, capital, and connections to portfolio companies and supports startups across the United States, including opportunities outside traditional hubs like Silicon Valley. The firm has backed more than 50 companies, including a fintech startup valued at over 3.5 billion, illustrating a track record of sizable portfolio successes.

Kudu Investment Management is a New York-based investment firm formed in 2015 that provides capital to asset management and wealth management firms pursuing ownership transfers, partner liquidity, management buyouts, or acquisition and growth financing. It focuses on minority-stake investments and risk-sharing arrangements intended to help managers maintain independence and principal control while pursuing growth. Positioned as a long-term partner, the firm emphasizes alignment with principals and continuity of operations, delivering value-added support without dictating liquidity decisions.

RiverPark Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York that invests in enterprise technology and the evolving dynamics of consumer behavior. The firm targets high-growth, disruptive companies with innovative products and services across broad markets, with emphasis on strong leadership and scalable business models. Drawing on two decades of execution and investment experience, RiverPark Ventures provides capital plus strategic guidance and operational support to portfolio companies. It pursues opportunities through active deal flow and strategic alliances, and benefits from the broader resources and research capabilities of RiverPark Funds. The approach is industry-agnostic, aiming to accelerate growth and help startups establish durable competitive advantages.

Frontline Ventures is a venture capital firm headquartered in Dublin with offices in London and San Francisco, investing in early- and growth-stage business-to-business software companies across Europe and the United States. It focuses on helping globally ambitious B2B firms expand transatlantically, leveraging a hands-on approach and a cross-Atlantic network of operators and founders to support expansion milestones. The team comprises entrepreneurs and industry veterans with experience scaling ventures, aiming to add strategic value beyond capital and to guide portfolio companies through company-defining moments.

Evergreen Climate Innovations is a nonprofit organization focused on accelerating climate innovation in the Greater Midwest by providing seed investments and comprehensive support to early-stage climate technology startups. It cultivates an ecosystem by offering mentorship, resources, and investment opportunities, aiming to close the capital gap that hinders development and deployment of climate solutions. The organization operates a philanthropic venture fund that aligns charitable and corporate contributions to deliver environmental, economic, and social impact. Through its activities, Evergreen Climate Innovations seeks to spur job creation and generate investment returns while advancing scalable climate technologies.

GGV Capital is a global venture capital firm that restructured in 2024 into two brands: Granite Asia and Notable Capital. Granite Asia, headquartered in Singapore, concentrates on investments across the Asia-Pacific region, including Southeast Asia, Japan, China, India, and Australia. Notable Capital, based in Silicon Valley with offices in San Francisco and New York, concentrates on investments in the United States, Israel, Europe, and Latin America. The organization backs technology companies across early to growth stages and maintains an active portfolio strategy across regions. Notable investments include Streamlit, HashiCorp, Grab, Affirm, Poshmark, Wish, and Airbnb. The firm provides resources for founders through its platform and founder portal.

Notable Capital is a US-based venture capital firm that backs early-to-growth stage companies in cloud infrastructure and business and consumer applications. With a global footprint across the United States, Israel, Europe and Latin America, it supports ambitious founders from inception through scaling, prioritizing long-term partnerships and strategic value beyond funding. The firm's portfolio includes Affirm, Airbnb, Slack, HashiCorp, Ibotta, Orca Security, Quince, Vercel and Zendesk, reflecting emphasis on cloud software, enterprise security and consumer platforms. Notable Capital seeks to partner with founders reimagining industries, leveraging global networks and market insights to drive growth and successful exits.

Launchpad Digital Health is a California-based venture capital firm founded in 2013 that concentrates on digital health investments. It supports early-stage digital health companies with significant capital, typically investing up to $1 million in seed rounds and $2-3 million in Series A and B rounds, and it partners with entrepreneurs to scale businesses that improve care, lower costs, and increase patient convenience. Based in Emeryville, California, the firm focuses on technologies such as remote diagnostics and monitoring, electronic health and wellness records, data analytics and big data, independent living support, and patient engagement tools.

Leaps by Bayer is the corporate venture capital arm of Bayer, founded in 2015 and based in Leverkusen, Germany. It invests in paradigm-shifting advances in the life sciences, focusing on biotechnology, agriculture, and scientific breakthroughs to accelerate transformative biotechnologies. The unit seeks innovations that could redefine healthcare by moving beyond treating symptoms toward cures or prevention and contribute to sustainable agriculture, aiming to deliver meaningful, broad-scale impact for society.

Foundry Group is a venture capital firm based in Boulder, Colorado, established in 2007. It concentrates on early-stage technology investments in information technology, internet and software companies across North America, and operates multiple funds to back startups from seed to later stages. The firm partners with entrepreneurs to support software and digital businesses as they scale, drawing on experience as a long-standing investor in the North American tech ecosystem.

Cabra VC is a venture capital firm established in 2016 and headquartered in Riga, Latvia, with additional offices in Limassol, Cyprus, and a global footprint that includes the United States and India. The firm pursues direct and fund-of-fund investments across seed, early, and growth stages in consumer, enterprise, technology, and software companies, with a focus on SaaS, B2B, B2B2C, and subscription-based models targeting global markets. It maintains a sector-agnostic approach while avoiding cyber security, biotech, and blockchain. Cabra VC provides portfolio support in growth strategy, business development, fundraising, and legal matters, drawing on a team with background in entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, M&A, and venture investing. Typical investments aim at helping high-growth startups scale internationally, backed by experience across multiple regions including the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Sound Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles, California, with activity in Beverly Hills. The firm backs early- and mid-stage technology companies, taking a hands-on approach to help founders build scalable products and infrastructure. Drawing on more than 15 years of industry insight, Sound Ventures partners with portfolio companies to achieve product-market fit, accelerate growth, and craft compelling market narratives. The firm applies thematic investing to identify emerging technical talent and opportunities, including through an AI-focused program, and maintains a network across media and technology to track trends such as artificial intelligence. Sound Ventures operates as a registered investment adviser, aligning advisory services with its investment activities. The firm aims to support visionary founders and translate technology trends into practical, market-ready solutions.

AXA Venture Partners is an independent global investment platform backed by AXA, focused on high-growth technology companies across Europe and North America. Founded in 2016 and based with local teams in New York, London and Paris, it provides multi-stage investments and hands-on expansion support, offering strategic guidance, connections and resources to help portfolio companies scale. The firm targets sectors such as enterprise software, fintech and insurtech, digital health, cybersecurity, SaaS and related tech-enabled areas, and emphasizes a transatlantic approach to foster growth through partnerships and market entry strategies.

Hyde Park Angels is a Chicago-based venture capital and angel investor group focused on seed and early-stage investments, primarily in the Midwest. Founded in 2007, it combines venture capital with a people-first approach, integrating operating expertise and a broad business network to support portfolio companies across technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and industrial products. The firm backs companies through all stages from seed to growth, aiming to help founders become industry leaders and drive growth while delivering value to investors.

Firebrand Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on backing early-stage software startups. Founded in 2016 and based in the Kansas City area, the firm maintains offices in Austin and Boulder alongside its Kansas footprint. It invests in technology companies in the United States and Canada, with an emphasis on the software sector. The firm targets early rounds and typically commits checks in the half-million to one-million USD range, supporting portfolio companies through their initial growth stages. Firebrand Ventures aims to strengthen technology ecosystems in its operating regions by funding startups with scalable software solutions and by partnering with founders to accelerate product development and market entry.

OSF HealthCare is a not-for-profit Catholic health care system serving central and northern Illinois and northern Michigan. Based in Peoria, Illinois, it operates eight acute care facilities, two colleges of nursing, and a primary care physician network exceeding 600 providers, along with affiliated health care businesses such as OSF Saint Francis and a philanthropic foundation. The organization delivers a broad range of services across hospitals, clinics, and specialized institutes, including behavioral health, cardiology, oncology, neurology, pediatrics, and primary care, supported by digital tools and care delivery innovations. Guided by Catholic ethical principles, its values include justice, compassion, integrity, teamwork, and stewardship, with a commitment to patient-centered care, employee well-being, and community health. OSF HealthCare serves more than 2.5 million people through its integrated network and seeks to transform health care through compassionate, high-quality services rooted in its Franciscan heritage.

Builders VC is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that provides early-stage funding and operational support to technology-enabled startups across traditionally underserved and legacy-heavy industries. The firm focuses on applying new business models and advanced technologies to sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, industrials, real estate, life sciences, mining, and maritime transport, with a particular emphasis on transforming complex systems. It positions itself as an operator-backed investor, helping founders improve execution, scale operations, and unlock opportunities disrupted by digital innovation, including areas such as AI-driven autonomy and synthetic biology. Builders VC seeks to back founders building solutions that modernize established industries and drive significant disruption.

8VC is a San Francisco-based technology and life sciences investment firm that partners with founders to develop transformational technologies and create long-term economic and societal value. It invests across sectors including healthcare and life sciences, energy, IT infrastructure, enterprise software, logistics, government and defense, manufacturing, consumer products, and financial services, with a focus on opportunities that leverage data-driven decision making. The firm supports portfolio companies through programs such as the 8VC Fellowship and 8VC Build and aims to back ventures where existing solutions do not meet market needs. 8VC manages a family of venture funds, including Entrepreneurs Fund II and III and multiple Fund I–III vehicles, reflecting a broad platform designed to accelerate growth and industry transformation.

OpenView Venture Partners is a Boston-based venture capital firm founded in 2006 that focuses on technology companies in North America, with emphasis on software, business-to-business, software as a service, and cloud technologies. The firm targets early to expansion-stage opportunities and typically invests between five and fifteen million dollars per company, often in firms with annual revenue of two to twenty million. OpenView combines capital with hands-on operational support through its Expansion Platform, assisting portfolio companies with talent development, customer acquisition, and strategic partnerships to accelerate growth. The firm is registered as an investment adviser and maintains a specialized approach to helping software businesses scale in competitive markets.

Fulcrum Global Capital is a Kansas City-based venture capital firm founded in 2016 and the venture capital arm of a U.S. agriculture producer. It concentrates on investments in agriculture, agtech, food production, food safety, food waste, and animal health, targeting opportunities across the agriculture supply chain and related technologies. The firm backs disruptive companies that contribute to sustainable global food systems and seeks growth partners across the United States, Canada, Europe, and the broader Americas. It operates as a registered investment adviser.

Mutual Capital Partners is a venture capital firm based in Westlake, Ohio, focused on healthcare startups in the United States, particularly in Ohio and the Midwest. The firm concentrates on healthcare information technology and medical devices, combining financial investment with active partnership, networking, and expert guidance to help portfolio companies scale. It emphasizes strong management teams and established customer bases in its investment criteria, and leverages a broad investor network to support due diligence, introductions, and ongoing strategic counsel for portfolio executives.

Research Corporation Technologies is a Tucson, Arizona-based biotechnology and medical device company focused on fostering healthcare innovation. It invests in and licenses biomedical technologies and provides researchers and entrepreneurs with resources to translate inventions from concept to commercial products. Its portfolio includes protein expression systems such as ClearColi and Pichia GlyoSwitch and ultrasound imaging technology like VIMPAT, along with other therapeutic and diagnostic tools. RCT operates a venture capital program, RCT Ventures, to support early-stage biomedical companies. The firm emphasizes partnerships and collaboration to connect innovators with funding and the expertise needed to advance life science inventions toward market, including activity in contract development and manufacturing partnerships.

Stanley Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Stanley Black & Decker, established in 2016. It invests in early-stage startups that complement the company’s hardware, software, and industrial ecosystem. Based in the United States, the firm targets sectors including software as a service, electrification, autonomy, construction technology, and advanced materials. Beyond capital, Stanley Ventures provides strategic value through industry expertise, supplier relationships, and access to Stanley Black & Decker’s extensive customer base and brand network, helping portfolio companies pursue commercial collaborations and scale. It commonly co-invests with partners to accelerate growth and adoption of innovative solutions aligned with the parent company’s strengths.

Trimble is a global technology company delivering software, hardware, and services that connect office and field workflows for professionals in construction, geospatial, transportation, and utilities. Its solutions combine positioning technologies such as GPS, lasers, and optics with industry-specific software and wireless delivery to improve productivity, collaboration, and data-driven decision making across the project lifecycle. Trimble operates through three reportable segments: Architects, Engineers, Construction and Owners (AECO) software for construction; Field Systems hardware and software; and Transportation and Logistics for freight and long-haul trucking. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Trimble aims to enable connected workflows and sustainable, efficient operations.

Khosla Ventures is a California-based venture capital firm founded in 2004 that provides capital and strategic support to technology-driven startups across early- to late-stage cycles. It pursues opportunities in AI, digital health, healthcare technologies, sustainability, fintech, consumer and enterprise technology, and other frontier areas, focusing on innovative business models and world-class teams. The firm emphasizes a contrarian, long-term approach and seeks to help entrepreneurs address meaningful societal and economic challenges through science, technology, and design.

Greenspring Associates is a global fund of funds management firm based in Owings Mills, Maryland. Founded in 2000, it provides commingled funds and customized partnership capabilities to a diverse set of institutions and individuals worldwide. The firm invests in established and emerging venture capital fund managers, early and growth-stage venture-backed companies, and secondary venture capital fund and secondary direct investments. It manages over $7.3 billion of committed capital and relies on a dedicated investment team with broad venture fund and direct investment expertise. In 2021, Greenspring Associates was acquired by StepStone Group, expanding its global private markets platform.

Quiet Capital is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, founded in 2017. It invests across a broad range of sectors including enterprise software, consumer, fintech, marketplaces, deep tech, healthcare, and crypto, seeking founders and teams with differentiated products and scalable models.

First Analysis is a Chicago-based investment firm with a long history in venture capital and private equity. Founded in 1981, it pursues early-stage and growth investments across the United States, with emphasis on healthcare and technology sectors, including software, information technology, and related services. The firm combines capital with strategic support, leveraging industry research to guide portfolio companies in areas such as strategy, governance, and growth, and it offers advisory services for mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, and financings. Through selective investing and active board involvement, First Analysis aims to create value for partners while building long-term market positions for its portfolio companies.

Western Technology Investment is a California-based venture debt firm founded in 1980 that provides growth capital to technology and life science companies through debt financing, and, in select cases, equity alongside debt. The firm targets venture-backed, revenue-generating firms and offers flexible, founder-friendly funding with warrants in many client companies, aiming to minimize dilution and avoid restrictive covenants. Its capital supports companies from early through public-market stages, across North America, and has a history of financing deals ranging from small to tens of millions of dollars. WTI emphasizes operational flexibility and timely capital when needed, leveraging a partner-driven, scalable approach to align with founders and management teams.

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.

Homegrown Capital is a venture capital firm based in Brookings, South Dakota, focused on early‑stage technology companies in the Midwest and Northern Plains. It backs seed to Series A rounds, typically investing between $0.5 million and $2 million, prioritizing B2B software, agricultural technology, FinTech, and related digital models. The firm emphasizes a hands‑on approach, actively participating on boards and leveraging regional networks to support portfolio companies. It seeks growth‑oriented startups with strong management teams, clear paths to scale, and viable exit strategies, aiming for significant progress within five to seven years, with a regional focus that supports innovation across the Northern Plains and Midwest.

Cultivian Sandbox Ventures is a Chicago-based venture capital firm that invests in innovative food and agriculture technology companies across the value chain. The firm targets solutions that advance sustainable production, equitable distribution, and healthier consumption, aiming to modernize the global food system. Backed by experienced industry operators and strategic partners, it combines domain expertise with hands-on support to help portfolio companies shape strategy, recruit key leaders, and accelerate commercialization. Cultivian Sandbox emphasizes collaboration with its partners to create value and often leverages its network to connect portfolio companies with customers, collaborators, and capital. Through its focus on technology-enabled agro-food innovations, the firm seeks to generate strong returns while contributing to greater sustainability, security, and safety in the food system.

Primary Venture Partners is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm based in New York that backs technology startups across sectors including B2B software, mobile, fintech, healthcare, and energy. The firm pursues a low-volume, high-conviction approach and provides extensive hands-on support through an in-house expert network, talent initiatives, and financial and market development advisory aimed at helping portfolio companies recruit, commercialize, and raise subsequent rounds. With global reach from pre-seed through Series A, Primary partners with founders to accelerate growth and increase their chances of achieving significant milestones, leveraging specialized operators and resources to help companies navigate growth challenges and scale effectively.