Talking VC, tech kids, and Forge North’s Horizon
July is over! This is the moment where summer fun planning always turns a little earnest, when we try to store up every last bit of Vitamin D and fish protein we can to last the upcoming season-which-shall-not-be-named. There’s still fun to be had, and we took some time out of the sun recently to attend […]
June: Great North Labs’s first fund raised!
$23.7 Million Raised Great North Labs has closed its first fund with $23.7M in committed capital! This is one of the largest debut seed funds ever raised in the Midwest. “We are very appreciative and humbled by the tremendous support shown for our debut fund by our limited partners,” said Great North Labs Managing Partner Rob […]
Carried Interest: Top Posts from 2018
2019 is here! Since Great North Labs is a proponent of iterating based on data-driven feedback, it’s time for a look at the best-performing content from 2018. What captured people’s interest? What is the Great North community interested in? The Posts Facebook controversy. Rob Weber’s post about Sheryl Sandberg and the importance of “integrators” titled, […]
September: Great North Labs Startup Ecosystem Kickoff Recap, Twin Cities Startup Week
Great North Labs Startup Ecosystem Kickoff “It doesn’t take a lot of capital with early-stage tech companies to make a big impact.” – Ryan Weber The Great North Labs Startup Ecosystem Kickoff brought together successful entrepreneurs and innovators to learn about the current state of the tech and investment ecosystem and network with like-minded professionals. 25 speakers, 6 portfolio […]
August: Great North Labs Startup Ecosystem Kickoff, ZAPinfo, and the necessity of advice and capital availability
Great North Labs’s August Update Fostering Midwest success means making guidance and capital available for tech startups Great North Labs got the front-page treatment in the Star Tribune Business section this Sunday. Former investment banker, consultant and corporate officer (and current business journalist) Lee Schafer talked about building successful tech companies with Ryan and Rob […]
July: Pitchly, ForwardFest, and Where to Invest in the Midwest
Great North Labs’s July Update Where to Invest in the Midwest At Great North Labs we are constantly making the case for investing in venture capital in the upper Midwest. Skepticism ranges from the size of the funds here, to the funding opportunities of the region, to the value of venture itself. GNL partner Pradip […]
Where to Invest in the Midwest: Venture Across Asset Classes
More than 8,000 venture-backed companies received a combined $85 billion in funding in 2017, representing the highest annual total since 2000.[i] As stocks, real estate investments, and venture capital reach record highs, what are investors thinking about where to invest? The answer depends on the type of investor: Large funds such as university endowments, pension […]
Mid-Market Grocer Growth: Organic, Seeded or Grafted?
Amazon (mkt cap ~$760B) recently paid more for Whole Foods ($13.7B) than the balance sheets of many mid-market grocers. This frames the obvious question for all grocers: how can your business compete long-term? This is an especially challenging question for the smaller-cap grocers. Large companies such as Walmart (mkt cap ~$250B) and Target (mkt cap […]
May: Team Genius, IoT, and the Future of Everything
The Industrial Internet is the future- and it’s being built now. IoT and Analytics are transforming industry, and who know industry like the upper Midwest? Add to the decades of institutional experience a community of educated tech adopters, then just add water (liquid capital) and stir. BAM! Forget Silicon Valley, this is Silicon Lakes. Read […]
Healthcare Innovation
Healthcare Today Some of the smartest minds work in healthcare, life sciences and biopharma. Yet the healthcare sector struggles to bring innovation into its ecosystem. The pace of innovation adoption has been much greater in other sectors, including in communication (Facebook, Skype), learning (Google, YouTube, Coursera), shopping (Amazon), personal finance (PayPal), and entertainment (Netflix). This […]