Forge North, an initiative of Greater MSP that launched in 2022 with the goal of raising a $50 million in funds to back diverse entrepreneurs, has announced its first round of investments from the MSP Equity Fund.
St. Paul-based Greater MSP Partnership is leading the program with gener8tor of Madison, Wisconsin. Greater MSP would not disclose the investment amounts, citing confidentiality agreements, but said in a press release it gave undisclosed amounts to the following funds:
- Bread & Butter Ventures: A seed-stage venture capital firm based in Minneapolis that invests globally in food tech, digital health, and enterprise software-as-a-service startups and leverages partnerships with Fortune 500 and large enterprises based in Minnesota to support companies post investment
- M25: An early-stage software-focused venture firm based in Chicago, investing solely in companies headquartered in the Midwest
- Capitalize VC: A woman-led venture capital fund that invests in diverse founders who are leading the next generation of innovation in commerce enablement, fintech, and consumer brands
- Tundra Ventures: An early-stage venture capital firm based in Minneapolis and San Francisco that invests in the tech, health, and consumer packaged goods sectors.
- Brown Venture Group: A venture capital investment firm based in St. Paul that invests in overlooked and undervalued market investment segmentation within technology startups.
Lead investors in the MSP Equity Fund include Golden Valley-based Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America, Minneapolis-based Allina Health System, Xcel Energy Services Inc. and Abova Inc. Previous Business Journal reporting indicated that Allianz committed $10 million, while Allina and Excel committed seven-figure investments.
The fund is managed by gener8tor partner Al Cornish, and so far the fund of funds has raised over $10 million dollars, according to the press release.
“We are thrilled at the first five investments of the MSP Equity Fund," Cornish said in the release. “Each fund was carefully selected after an intensive due diligence process looking at a number of factors, including track record, the management team, alignment with the mission and vision of the fund, and willingness to engage in the Minnesota startup ecosystem.”
The ultimate goal of the MSP Equity Fund is to turn Minnesota into a top investment destination for leading venture-capital fund managers and for Black, brown, Indigenous and women entrepreneurs, the release said.
“Our vision for the Greater Minneapolis–Saint Paul region is to lead the world in inclusive economic growth,” Peter Frosch, CEO of Greater MSP, said in the release. “The MSP Equity Fund is a bold move that will drive innovation in our economy and advance inclusion.”
