Gateway Capital Announces First Close of Fund II to Expand Midwest Venture Reach

Gateway Capital announced the first close of its sophomore fund, marking a significant expansion for the Milwaukee-based venture capital firm. Managing Partner Dana Guthrie confirmed that the firm now oversees more than $20 million in assets. This new capital vehicle aims to identify high-potential founders in overlooked Midwest geographies, specifically focusing on low-to-moderate income communities.

While the firm's inaugural fund focused exclusively on Wisconsin startups, Fund II broadens the mandate to include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio. Gateway intends to maintain its core presence in Milwaukee while seeking outlier founders across the regional landscape. The firm typically targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies before they reach a broader market consensus.

Since its 2020 launch, Gateway has established a track record of backing early-stage Wisconsin companies that later attract national follow-on capital. Previous investments include Tip a ScRxipt, a healthcare payment platform, and Golgix, an AI manufacturing software provider. The firm's strategy emphasizes operational discipline and fundamentals, which Guthrie suggests provides a distinct advantage for both investors and founders.

Dana Guthrie, a former software engineer and graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, is the first Black woman in Wisconsin to raise an institutional venture capital fund. Her approach involves working closely with portfolio companies on team development and customer growth. She often shares internal venture math and assumptions with founders to create a more transparent fundraising environment. The firm expects to back at least 20 early-stage companies through this second vehicle. By entering markets often ignored by coastal firms, Gateway Capital seeks to generate outsized returns while fostering economic opportunity in the Midwest. The first close allows the firm to begin immediate deployment of capital into regional startups.