Online Event
Who's Funding AI Startups in the Midwest? Featuring Exit Quotient Ventures
Map who is actually funding startups in the Midwest and what it takes to get on their radar.
Date
Sep 30, 2026
Time
04:00 pm - 05:00 pm
Address
Online Event
Join us for a live session with Broc W. Edwards, Managing Partner at Exit Quotient Ventures, a Midwest-focused fund investing at pre-seed and seed in capital-efficient startups. Broc is also Founder and CEO of Pronoia Capital, with a background in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, and Raymond James. We’ll map the local funding landscape: which funds and angel groups are deploying, what public programs and grants are available, realistic check sizes, and what investors screen for, including the AI-native traction local investors are increasingly asking about. Register now and leave knowing who to approach.
What You'll Learn:
- Which funds, angel groups and public programs are actively deploying in the Midwest;
- What check sizes are realistic locally, and at what stage;
- What each type of funder screens for before taking a meeting;
- What AI-native traction means to a local investor;
- How a founder at idea stage gets on the radar of any of them.
Featured Speaker:
- Broc W. Edwards - Managing Partner at Exit Quotient Ventures - Broc leads a Midwest-focused venture fund writing pre-seed and seed checks into capital-efficient startups across the region. He is also Founder and CEO of Pronoia Capital, and spent his career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, Keefe Bruyette & Woods and Raymond James before becoming an investor and operator himself.
Who Should Attend:
- Founders in the Midwest who do not know where local capital comes from;
- Idea-stage founders planning a first raise in their own market;
- Founders considering whether to raise locally or elsewhere;
- Anyone who assumed there was no money in this city.
Additional Resources: Find more Startup Events, read How to Raise the First Round of Funding, or check Funding Benchmarks and Milestones to see what local investors screen for.
About Founder Institute: The Founder Institute is the World's Largest AI-Native Company Builder, giving idea-stage, first-time founders, and employees making the leap to entrepreneurship the tools, global network, and proven methodology to build an AI-powered startup from zero to funding. Since 2009, our structured programs have helped over 9,000 founders across 100 countries raise more than $2BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 6 continents, our mission is to empower talented and motivated people everywhere to build impactful, AI-powered companies.
Speakers
Platinum Partners
Local Partners
Google
Linkedin
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