Idea Fund of La Crosse

What Idea Fund of La Crosse does

Idea Fund of La Crosse is a seed and early-stage venture capital fund established in 2016 and headquartered at 232 3rd St. N., Suite 202, La Crosse, Wisconsin. The fund was the first to receive a commitment investment from the Badger Fund of Funds, a Wisconsin state-backed public-private program designed to expand venture capital deployment in the region. It raised $8 million at its first close in February 2017 and reached a final close at $13 million in June 2017 after a third close, with stated plans to deploy approximately $8 million across 10 to 12 Wisconsin-based startups over several years. The fund invests horizontally across information technology, health IT, data analytics, supply chain, agriculture, manufacturing, financial services, and consumer software, with a named portfolio that includes Agent Agnes, CardTrade, Insuraviews, Virtu, The Jenny Project, OfferingTree, Quiver Quantitative, Agrograph, Curate Solutions, Part Analytics, Eneration, and Onsetto.

The fund is led by Managing Director Jonathon Horne, a La Crosse native and former J.P. Morgan investment banker who holds an MBA and JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and President Libby Weber, who also serves as CEO of The Weber Group. Former Vice President Garrett Lauderdale previously worked at SEI Ventures (Strategic Education Inc.). The general partner operates with a lean 1-10 person team and sources deal flow through its regional network, the firm's website, and partnerships with regional accelerators and incubators.

The business model is a traditional venture capital fund structure: the GP earns management fees on committed capital (typically a low-single-digit percentage) and carried interest on realized exits. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Distribution of capital is conducted through direct equity investments via term sheets, due diligence, and board participation. Geographic focus is the Upper Midwest, with Wisconsin cities — Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Appleton, Kenosha, Racine, and Waukesha — forming the primary catchment area, and select deals in adjacent markets such as Minneapolis. The fund has generated at least two portfolio exits (Curate Solutions to FiscalNote in 2021 and Part Analytics to Altium in 2025) and continues to make new investments as of early 2026.

Name

Idea Fund of La Crosse

Legal name

Idea Fund of La Crosse

Website

https://ideafundvc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Idea Fund of La Crosse is a Wisconsin-based seed and early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2016 that invests across the Upper Midwest in startups spanning IT, health IT, agtech, fintech, and consumer software, deploying equity capital sourced primarily from a $13 million fund anchored by the state-backed Badger Fund of Funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital Investment

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Venture Capital Fund-of-Funds / Multi-Manager Platforms (FSANAAAJ)

Keywords

• Venture capital fund
• Seed stage investing
• Early stage startups
• Startup equity financing
• Upper Midwest investments

Headquarters

HQ city

La Crosse

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Idea Fund of La Crosse is a seed and early-stage venture capital fund that invests equity capital in startup companies across the Upper Midwest region. The fund provides capital, strategic connections, and operational experience to founders of seed and early-stage companies, with a planned deployment of approximately $8 million across 10 to 12 Wisconsin startups. It operates as a recipient fund of the Badger Fund of Funds public-private investment program.

Product overview

Idea Fund of La Crosse is a seed and early-stage venture capital fund that invests in startup companies across the Upper Midwest region. The fund provides capital, connections, and operational experience to entrepreneurs. Their investment strategy focuses on diverse sectors including information technology, health IT, data analytics, supply chain, agriculture, manufacturing, and financial services. The portfolio includes companies such as The Jenny Project, Agent Agnes, CardTrade, Insuraviews, and virtu, among others. The fund operates as a traditional VC fund structure rather than a technology product company, and does not offer software products, APIs, or SaaS platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• TitletownTech: Green Bay, WI-based venture fund investing in early-stage startups across Wisconsin and the broader region. Directly comparable as a regional seed-stage VC anchored to Wisconsin deal flow.
• Allos Ventures: Indianapolis-based seed and early-stage VC that has co-invested with Idea Fund (e.g., Quiver Quantitative). Operates a similar regional seed-stage mandate in the Midwest.
• M25: Chicago-based early-stage VC focused on the Midwest. Co-investor in Idea Fund portfolio deals (Quiver Quantitative), with overlapping regional seed-stage mandate.
• Bascom Ventures: Madison, WI-based student-run venture fund investing in early-stage companies, particularly in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest — directly overlapping Idea Fund's geographic and stage focus.
• WARF: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, a Madison-based investor in early-stage companies spun out of UW-Madison. Co-investor with Idea Fund in regional deals (Quiver Quantitative).
• Wisconsin River Capital: Wisconsin-based private investment firm providing capital to growing companies in the region, with a similar early-stage and growth-stage focus on Wisconsin-headquartered businesses.
• Gener8tor: Milwaukee-based accelerator and early-stage venture fund that operates investment programs for startups across the Midwest, often co-investing with regional funds like Idea Fund.
• The Perch Fund: Wisconsin-focused angel/seed investment group that has co-invested with Idea Fund (Onsetto). Comparable regional, early-stage investment mandate.
• EJF Ventures: Financial services-focused venture firm that led the Onsetto round in which Idea Fund participated. Comparable as a thematic early-stage investor with overlapping portfolio companies.

Broad incumbents

• Badger Fund of Funds: Wisconsin's state-backed fund-of-funds program that provided anchor capital to Idea Fund. Comparable as the upstream LP and ecosystem orchestrator in Wisconsin's VC landscape.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/idea-fund-of-la-crosse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments23 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Idea Fund of La Crosse