Wisconsin-based venture capital firm closes in on $25 million goal

Rock River Capital, based in the Wisconsin capital of Madison, has gotten much closer to its $25 million fundraising goal thanks to a recent donation worth a whopping $15 million. A report from Biz Times news site details that the venture capital firm is now at $21.2 million in its fundraising campaign despite having just launched in 2017. New numbers from the SEC show, however, that the firm could eclipse its original goal and possibly secure as much as $30 million in funds. Officials from Rock River Capital told the site that the money collected thus far has come from 68 investors. “We’re kind of right where we need to be,” fund manager Andy Walker told Biz Times. “We are doing a final fundraising push between now and the end of the summer.” Rock River is part of the larger Badger Fund of Funds program in which the state of Wisconsin allocated a large amount of money in an effort to boost the state’s startup scene and incentivize small companies with unique ideas. Rock River heads like Walker have said the capital firm will do similar ventures in not just Wisconsin, but all over the Midwest, by investing in new startups throughout the region. Walker told Biz Times that he has met with hundreds of companies within the past year to start deciding where to invest in and who to partner up with. “We’re really focused on the Midwest and ideally Wisconsin,” he is quoted as saying. “Our goal is to be industry agnostic but stay in that geography.”