Great Lakes venture fund launched - Business First of Columbus

Great Lakes venture fund launched - Business First of Columbus

A new pool of investment capital is welling up in Ohio thanks to a cross-border partnership.

Toledo-based Rocket Ventures announced June 2 that it’s working with Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Plymouth Venture Partners II LP to establish a $40 million venture capital fund. Dubbed Plymouth Venture Partners Fund II, the pool will invest in growth-stage companies in northwest Ohio and the entire Great Lakes region.

Rocket Ventures is a pre-seed, early stage venture fund run by the Toledo-based Regional Growth Partnership, a private, nonprofit development corporation for northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

Plymouth Venture Partners is a division of Ann Arbor-based Plymouth Management Company, which has opened an office in Toledo to support the new fund.

Plymouth Venture Fund II closed its first round of funding May 30 with $15 million and is expected to close a second round in the fourth quarter that will bring the fund to $40 million, said Rocket Ventures CEO Steve Weathers. The fund will target companies with national or international sales, a release from the company says.

Prior to its latest fund, Plymouth raised $23 million for Plymouth Venture Fund. That venture capital pool completed 29 investments since 2003, realized 12 liquidity events and one write off.

Read more: Great Lakes venture fund launched - Business First of Columbus