Larger, later-stage venture capital investments are all the rage these days on the East and West coasts, with startups in Silicon Valley seeing megadeals topping $100 million. While entrepreneurs in Wisconsin raise more modest funding rounds, the momentum in the venture capital community has been growing.
According to a Venture Monitor report by Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association, Wisconsin saw 22 venture capital deals in the second quarter totaling $101.8 million. That’s up from 2017’s second quarter, when there were just nine venture capital deals in Wisconsin.
Andrew Walker, Ross Leinweber, Jonathon Horne, Richelle Martin, Dan Brooks and David Trotter discuss the Badger Fund of Funds with Tom Still at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference in June.
Still, the Great Lakes region accounted for just 7.9 percent of U.S. deals in the second quarter, and 3.4 percent of deal value, the Venture Monitor report said.
According to the Wisconsin Technology Council, which tracks SEC filings, public reports and tax data and surveys investors, fewer Wisconsin startups (127 of them) raised investment capital in 2017 and total funding decreased to $231 million from $276 million in 2016, but it was still the second-highest annual total ever in Wisconsin.
In the first portion of 2018, WTC had tracked 32 Wisconsin deals totaling about $51 million, which is behind the pace of 2017 as of June. But WTC president Tom Still is optimistic.
“I believe the word is spreading that Wisconsin has the good ideas, the talent to carry them out and the cost of doing business that helps pay for everything in the long run,” he said. Read the full story here.
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