Heartland Ventures: Bridging Divides Through a New Type of VC Fund

I moved to Indiana 11 years ago. Before that, I lived my entire life in the Northeast Corridor, always somewhere in or between Boston and Washington, D.C. So as I ventured to the Midwest, my knowledge of the region was limited to Notre Dame football, the Indy 500 and a vague idea that this is where a lot of my food came from.

Since that time, I’ve lived mainly in Indianapolis, working as an attorney, the Head of Product with a new software platform and as a consultant to Midwestern businesses focused on issues like tech adoption. Those experiences have made this much clear to me: the coasts have no monopoly on talented people, big ideas, or business acumen, let alone hard work.

Stating this feels awkward. There are few, if any, objective reasons to think a region that’s home to 50% of America’s largest corporations, some of the most productive research universities in the world, and millions of people efficiently producing modern economic staples like sustainable food and hybrid cars, is at a deficit when it comes to skills or ambition. But given current narratives about a divide between so-called “flyover country” and “coastal elites,” it seems worth stating.

Any notion that divides a diverse country of 330 million people into two camps is a joke. There are elitist Californians, just as there are elitist Ohioans. There are honest and humble residents of the Heartland just as there are honest and humble residents of the coasts. The caricatures go both ways. The reality is there is immense value being produced in places all over the country, on the coasts and in between. Unfortunately, the dumb idea that the two are so far apart has lead to real differences in things like venture investment and tech adoption and today, Midwestern businesses do face a tech gap. At the same time, when Silicon Valley ignores the Midwest, it loses out on potential valuable customers and skilled employees.

Three years ago, our fund, Heartland Ventures, began to address this by connecting Midwestern businesses with coastal technology. This approach provides a myriad of benefits. Midwestern companies access technology they would not otherwise see. Coastal startups access customers they would not otherwise meet. Our coastal co-investors get a way to test product market fit in a new region. And the fund itself is able to de-risk its investment decisions by only committing to a startup after getting validation from large Midwestern customers, who happen to be Heartland Ventures investors.

Finally, Heartland stakeholders get to take advantage of unique technologies that will help them thrive in the future and the fund itself is able to send outsized returns back to those communities. The strengthening of these connections — through technology, business, finance, and most importantly, relationships — make our fund’s mission and model truly unique.

Some see the Heartland as the place where America’s food is grown. Others see it as the place where real (physical) stuff is made. Others might just call it the space in between the coasts. It is all of that but also so much more.

For me, the Heartland is as much a mindset as it is a place. A mindset consisting of doing important things well, of working hard at a craft not just for financial rewards but because of the benefit for one’s community. Of purpose. Of humility. This describes our partners in places like Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. But it also describes people and businesses I grew up with in a small New England town. And entities in places like New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. Ultimately, our model is one that can be executed all over the United States. All that’s needed is a desire to connect smart people with new ideas across different places.

Our country needs fewer people taking an us versus them approach. Aside from being a lazy way to look at the world, there are just too many talented, visionary people offering diverse skills to not bring them together. I love being part of a group that does that every day.