Winnebago Seed Fund and Badger Fund Formalize Investment -- Venture Capital Funds to Link Regional Investors, Talented Entrepreneurs

Neenah, WI, August 14, 2016 --(PR.com)-- The Winnebago Seed Fund of Neenah, Wisconsin, recently formalized the Badger Fund of Funds I, LP, $4 million dollar investment as the anchor and lead investor in the Neenah-based fund. The Winnebago Seed Fund expects to partner with talented entrepreneurs to create and rapidly grow new regional startups.

The Winnebago Seed Fund was established in 2016 by David Trotter, fund manager, in collaboration with local business leaders to focus on pre-revenue startup companies in Northeastern Wisconsin. It will target entrepreneurs primarily in Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties and throughout the state.

The management of the Winnebago Seed Fund includes a committee of state and local startup professionals including Ken Johnson of Kegonsa Capital Partners of Madison. A venture capital management firm established in 2005, Kegonsa used a Money for Minnows strategy to primarily invest in pre-revenue entrepreneurial startups in Dane County that resulted in seven new companies, three of which have been acquired by companies such as Microsoft and Qiagen. Four more growing companies have already created more than 200 new jobs in Wisconsin. The Money for Minnows investment strategy invests across multiple technologies and product categories within the same pre-revenue startup investment segment. Fund managers who employ the Money for Minnows strategy typically make smaller and numerous investments.

“The Money for Minnows startup investment strategy has already worked in Wisconsin. The Winnebago Fund will be employing the same practices and processes. One would expect the same outcome,” said Johnson. “David has done an excellent job building the Winnebago Fund team. I would predict an excellent outcome.”

“Dane County has seen more than 100 Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)-qualified new business ventures, whereas Brown, Winnebago, and Outagamie Counties have had just four,” said Trotter. “Northeastern Wisconsin has all the essential ingredients for a successful startup environment including colleges and universities, high growth industries, and strong community support. It’s not unlike Dane County, where Kegonsa has already had notable success.”