The Middle Tech team is always trying to bring helpful and relevant content to the startup ecosystem. One of the more consistent areas of interest from entrepreneurs is the topic of raising venture capital here in middle America. Is it the same as raising money on the coasts? What is the most effective way to engage with a venture firm? How can you best position your company for a successful fundraise? What are the expectations of a venture firm during the process and post-investment? To help us answer these questions, we partnered with Poplar Ventures, a premier early-stage VC firm based in Louisville, KY, to create The Startup Fundraising Journey. This three-part series will put listeners in the head of a venture capitalist and will walk through, in detail, how VCs find deals, do due diligence, write a term sheet, and how they provide on-going support after the investment is completed.
The Startup Fundraising Journey will kick off on Monday, November 30th. Each episode will be about 30 minutes long and will be accompanied by a full video recording of the conversation and an article summarizing the conversation. We encourage anyone reading this to check the series out and share it with any entrepreneurs wanting to learn more about the fundraising journey.
About Poplar Ventures:
Venture capital firm located in Louisville, Kentucky
Invests in cloud software technology companies based in middle America
Closed its inaugural fund of $22 million in February 2019
Founded by Managing Partner - John Willmoth
Typically invest $1mm - $3mm in Seed or Series A rounds
Recently brought on Christian Miller as a Senior Associate
Current investments include some of the region's most notable software businesses such as PERQ, SkuVault, Switcher Studios, and Podchaser. Predecessor investments include Zirmed, QA Symphony, and Aprimo.
Leverages a group of Investment Advisory Partners to provide industry, operational, technology, and financial guidance to Poplar portfolio companies. The group includes esteemed cloud software executives, technologists, and thought leaders.