What is the Wisconsin Investment Fund?

Any gathering of Wisconsin-based founders and funders will often lead to a discussion about the lack of venture capital in the Badger state. Data from the National Venture Capital Association supports this lament. In the years 2020-2024, 456 startups raised $ 2 billion in capital. During that same period, California saw 23,904 startups raise $537 billion in investments, supported largely by Silicon Valley investors. East Coast powerhouse Massachusetts, buoyed by Boston-based innovations saw 4,588 startups backed by $104 billion in venture funds.

Wisconsin is working to change that discussion.

The Wisconsin Investment Fund is a public-private venture capital initiative designed to expand access to early-stage funding for Wisconsin startups. Announced in 2024 and administered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the fund combines federal dollars with private venture capital to support high-growth companies based in the state.

The program represents a shift in how Wisconsin approaches economic development. Rather than relying primarily on grants, loans or tax incentives, the Wisconsin Investment Fund uses an equity-based model that recycles investment returns into future investments, creating a longer-term source of startup capital.

Funding source

The initial contribution to the fund totals $50 million and comes from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, a federal program authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. SSBCI was designed to encourage states to deploy capital in ways that attract private investment, particularly in markets where early-stage funding has historically been limited, like Wisconsin.

Under the structure of the Wisconsin Investment Fund, private venture capital firms selected by WEDC are required to match public dollars at least one-to-one. That requirement brings the total available investment pool to approximately $100 million for Wisconsin startups.

WEDC oversees the program and sets its investment objectives, but capital deployment is handled by private fund managers. The venture firms participating in the Wisconsin Investment Fund are Serra Ventures, HealthX Ventures, Venture Investors, NVNG and the Idea Fund of La Crosse.

In exchange for managing the public capital, participating firms receive an annual management fee from WEDC and take equity stakes in portfolio companies. Any returns generated on the state’s share of investments are recycled back into the Wisconsin Investment Fund to support future rounds of startup financing.

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, companies must be Wisconsin-based or have a significant in-state presence, reflecting the fund’s goal of supporting local startup growth and job creation. Because the fund is supported in part through the federal government, participating fund managers must also comply with federal program requirements, which emphasize early-stage businesses and encourage investment in founders and communities that have historically faced barriers to accessing capital. In practice, this means startups considered for investment typically align with traditional venture capital expectations, while meeting geographic and federal eligibility guidelines tied to the public funding.

State officials have described the fund as a long-term effort rather than a one-time infusion of capital. As investments are made and returns are realized, the goal is to build a sustainable funding mechanism that strengthens Wisconsin’s startup ecosystem over time while attracting additional private venture capital to the state.