2027 Great North Ventures Summer Analyst
Great North Ventures is a Minneapolis-based venture firm investing in Vertical AI and Embedded Finance companies from Seed to Series A. We are hiring Summer Analysts for 2027. Analysts work across the team on: This is a paid internship based in Minneapolis. FAQ 1. What is the application deadline? November 20th, 2026 at midnight CT. […]
What Stripe’s OpenRouter Deal Means for Embedded Finance
Embedded finance is moving deeper into business workflows and closer to the decisions made before a payment is made. On August 19, Stripe agreed to acquire OpenRouter for a reported $7.5 billion. The deal shows embedded finance is moving beyond payments and into the decision flows that generate them. OpenRouter is a three-year-old company whose […]
Branch + Stripe: Why this partnership is a signal, not just a story
One of our portfolio companies made news last week, and the announcement is significant: it represents exactly the kind of embedded finance milestone we look for when we back a company. On March 25, Branch, a provider of workforce financial infrastructure, announced it has become the embedded digital wallet provider for worker payouts within Stripe […]
Looking Back at 2025
We spent 2025 focused on what we know best: backing early-stage companies, helping teams embed financial infrastructure and AI into operations, and writing about the execution decisions that move companies forward. Some of that work came from companies we’ve backed directly. Some came from platforms we’ve supported for years. All of it reflects our belief […]
Deal Flow Is the Lifeblood of Any VC Firm – Here’s How It Happens
by Graeme Thickins Not surprisingly, the more established a VC firm, the more startup pitches it gets. Well-known VC partners get hundreds and hundreds of unsolicited pitches every week. But the real essence of deal flow for a VC is getting to see only the best of the best startups. Of course, that’s easier said […]
How Does Anti-Portfolio Thinking Affect VC Investing? Great North Ventures Takes a Look
by Graeme Thickins Babe Ruth once famously said, “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” And he struck out a lot – actually leading the American League five times. He also said, “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” And we all know how that ended […]
2026 VC Analyst Summer Program
Great North Ventures invests in entrepreneurs who are using the latest breakthrough technologies to innovate within Vertical AI and Embedded Finance. We focus on investing in capital-efficient companies from Seed to Series A. Built by successful founders, Great North Ventures values the ability to execute above all else. For Summer 2026, we are hiring for […]
From Bootstrapping a $70M Company to Leading a VC Fund: Lessons for Founders
By Graeme Thickins Twin brothers Rob and Ryan Weber, founding partners of Great North Ventures, have raised two funds and invested in more than 50 startups to date and counting, throughout the Midwest and the rest of the county. Well before that success, however, they were founders themselves of their own ventures, beginning in their […]
Great North Ventures Leads $2M Seed Round for NROC Security to Secure Employee Use of GenAI
Minneapolis and New York – September 29, 2025 – Great North Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, today announced it is leading a $2 million seed funding round for NROC Security, an innovative AI security company headquartered in New York and Helsinki, Finland. Additional investors in the round include Icebreaker.vc and Hannu Turunen (cofounder of […]
APIs, AI and Embedded Finance: What We’re Watching at Money 20/20
As the industry converges on Las Vegas, we’re focusing on infrastructure that helps launch products faster, supports new use cases and durable companies. With Money 20/20 around the corner, the conversation is shifting from front-end apps to the infrastructure shaping fintech’s future. Fintech’s next wave won’t be defined by the next consumer-facing app. It will […]