Victor Gutwein is the founder and managing director of M25, a Midwest-focused VC firm focused on early-stage tech companies. Over the past few years, Victor has invested in over 50 startups in 10 Midwest states. Here Victor writes every month to share his thoughts from his travels and experiences working with founders, VCs and others in the region.
Earlier this week, Steve Case and JD Vance of Revolutions Ventures announced a $150M “Rise of the Rest” fund, building off the bus tour & pitch competition of the same name that Case started a few years back.
The capital came from a who’s-who of American business – Chicago’s Pritzkers are nearly outshone by Jeff Bezos, Howard Schultz, Dan Gilbert, Meg Whitman, Tory Burch, John Doerr and – you get the point. It’s a large fund for “flyover country”, which sees few early-stage VCs focused on the region with more than $100M to spend. So how does this exciting new fund affect the tech economy, specifically in the Midwest? I’ve outlined the pros and cons here. Read the pros and cons here.
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