Dundee Venture Capital Raises $20M Fund III to Back Midwest Startups
Dundee Venture Capital (dundeeventurecapital.com/@dundeevc), an Omaha-based seed-stage investment firm, recently announced that the firm has raised $20M for its Fund III. The capital will be deployed into seed and early-stage investments targeting e-commerce, B2B SaaS and consumer-network focused startups. Dundee Venture Capital has made over 30 investments in startups to date, including Nebraska-based Bulu Box, with a goal of actively transforming the business landscape of the Midwest through entrepreneurship.
With a target capital raise of $30M, Fund III will be 65 percent larger than Dundee’s previous fund. The current fund focuses on consumer and B2B investments and has already closed its first seed investment in Fooji, a real-time fan engagement platform based in Lexington, Kentucky. Dundee plans to lead seed round investments in early-stage startups with high-velocity growth potential.
Dundee Venture Capital is also announcing its strategic partnership with Lakewest Venture Partners to add value and expand Dundee’s current market reach into Chicago. Lakewest co-founder David Mann joins Dundee as part of this alliance, bringing experience, insight and relationships, while fellow Lakewest co-founders Buzz Ruttenberg and Jonathan McCulloch will provide strategic advisory to Fund III.
Led by Mark Hasebroock, who founded GiftCertificates.com and Hayneedle Inc. (now a part of Walmart), Dundee Venture Capital is dedicated to building and scaling the Midwestern tech economy. Capital from Fund III will be primarily invested in startups located in the broader Midwest region including Denver, Omaha, Lincoln, Kansas City, Madison, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago. As part of its broader expansion, David Mann and his Lakewest co-founders will now run Dundee’s office in Chicago. Together, the two companies will continue to cultivate a new innovation ecosystem in the middle of the country and their combined AUM will deploy to a broader set of investments in Chicago and throughout the greater Midwest.