NVNG helps Wisconsin connect with the venture capital economy

Venture capital plays an increasingly important role in how new technologies and innovations are funded across the country. In Wisconsin, investment firm NVNG is working to help local corporations and institutions better understand and engage with that world, while also supporting the state’s startup ecosystem.

NVNG, short for Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, was founded in 2019 by Carrie Thome and Grady Buchanan, both of whom previously worked in institutional investment roles tied to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Their experience exposed them to national venture capital networks and, over time, to the idea that Wisconsin companies and investors could benefit from closer ties to those markets.

Thome said the motivation to launch NVNG came from watching how other regions approached innovation.

“In places like Michigan and Ohio, there were structures that helped local institutions participate in venture capital in an organized way,” she said. “We felt Wisconsin should have access to something similar.”

Before founding NVNG, Thome served as chief investment officer at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), where she oversaw investment activity and gained exposure to venture capital funds across the country. Buchanan worked in institutional portfolio management before shifting his focus toward venture. Together, the pair built a Wisconsin-based firm that operates at an institutional level while remaining deeply connected to the state.

NVNG builds and manages portfolios made up of experienced venture capital firms that focus on early- and growth-stage companies across a wide range of industries. This strategy includes investing through fund-of-funds structures, which means NVNG invests in venture firms rather than directly in companies. The firm also works with organizations to build customized portfolios aligned with their priorities.

Although the firm invests nationally, part of NVNG’s mission involves increasing connectivity between Wisconsin’s corporate sector and the broader innovation economy. By building relationships with venture funds and startup founders, NVNG works to make it easier for Wisconsin companies to engage with emerging technologies relevant to their industries.

Buchanan described the approach as relational rather than transactional.

“Venture capital is a network-driven business,” he said. “Our work is about making sure Wisconsin companies aren’t isolated from those networks.”

In addition to its fund investments, NVNG also manages a smaller direct-investment fund that supports select Wisconsin-based startups, developed in partnership with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation through federal SSBCI funding. This gives the firm a more direct role in backing local founders while maintaining its broader investment strategy.

Thome emphasized that NVNG’s work begins with financial discipline rather than economic development programming.

“Venture capital exists because it has the potential to generate strong financial returns,” she said. “If you remove that foundation and treat it primarily as charity, the ecosystem tends not to function the way it should.”

Beyond investing, NVNG also leads nationally significant conversations among corporate leaders, venture capital firms, researchers and innovation leaders.

The firm has hosted national venture investors and founders in Wisconsin through its +Venture North event series. In November 2025, the firm presented +Venture Health, a counterpart to the series that focused on the biohealth sector and brought together representatives from higher education, industry and other statewide partners engaged in life-science innovation. Thome said these events help connect people who do not always work together day-to-day and can reduce the sense that Wisconsin-based organizations operate in separate spheres.

“There is sometimes a perception that even Madison and Milwaukee operate independently,” she said. “But when you look at the research strengths across Wisconsin’s regions, the story becomes much more compelling when it is understood as a single, statewide network.”

The firm has positioned itself as a participant in an ecosystem that includes universities, founders, investors, corporations and nonprofit organizations that are working to ensure the state remains connected to national innovation trends.

“Other regions have created structures that make it easier for local companies to engage with venture capital,” Buchanan said. “Our view is simply that Wisconsin deserves access to the same kinds of tools.”

For Wisconsin business leaders who may still be learning how venture capital works, NVNG’s presence offers a way to observe and understand the space without needing to build those networks from scratch. As the state’s innovation community continues to evolve, the firm’s work reflects a broader effort to strengthen the connections between Wisconsin’s established industries and the emerging companies shaping the future economy.