Capital Midwest Fund Research
Investment Thesis
Capital Midwest Fund (CMF) is a Mequon, Wisconsin-based venture capital firm that invests in revenue-stage companies headquartered in the Central United States. The fund backs technology-enabled businesses providing software, services, and products, with a strong tilt toward industrial, manufacturing, and other enterprise end customers. CMF's underwriting framework is explicit and repeatable: the firm looks for management teams that (1) have a fundamental understanding of trending technology themes, (2) have applied that understanding practically to solve specific customer problems, and (3) have demonstrated real traction in market acceptance. This is a post-product, revenue-validated thesis rather than a pure pre-revenue bet, consistent with a Midwest generalist fund operating outside the coastal mega-round ecosystem. CMF explicitly moved away from biotech and pre-clinical/clinical-stage life sciences investing (its "Legacy Investments" page separates out older healthcare/biopharma bets like Gemphire Therapeutics, Ocuphire Pharma, and Therapeutic Proteins as "not representative of CMF's strategy going forward").
Sector Focus
CMF's current portfolio is broad but enterprise/industrial-leaning:
- Industrial and manufacturing technology (Intellihot commercial water heating, LightGuide/OPS Solutions AR-guided manufacturing, FactoryFix manufacturing recruiting)
- Enterprise SaaS and vertical software (Elate strategic planning, Albiware restoration-contractor CRM, HarQen web telephony, Textel business texting, Forecastr FP&A)
- Cybersecurity and risk (Sprocket Security continuous pen testing, ThirdPartyTrust vendor risk management)
- Healthcare/digital health (AIQ Solutions AI-based oncology decision support, Health Scholars VR clinical training, Physician Software Systems dosing SaaS, OnKöl elder-care connectivity)
- IoT and hardware-adjacent (Blue Pillar industrial IoT/DER platform, Hologram cellular IoT connectivity, LiquidCool Solutions liquid immersion cooling, NuCurrent wireless power antennas)
- Marketing/adtech (AdAdapted CPG mobile advertising, Lumanu influencer payments, realityBLU AR marketing)
- Robotics and automation (SkySpecs drone inspection for wind turbines)
- PropTech (AppraisalVision, Realync multifamily video leasing)
- Logistics (FRAYT on-demand delivery, PegEx waste disposal marketplace)
Stage Focus
CMF invests at the revenue stage rather than pure pre-seed/idea stage. Portfolio financings the firm has been associated with (per press coverage) cluster around Seed and Series A: Elate's $4.9M Series A (2023), Sprocket Security's $8M Series A (2024), and FactoryFix's $10M Series A (2022). The firm is not typically named as the lead in these press releases (leads were WestWave Capital, Blueprint Equity, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management respectively for Elate, Sprocket, and SkySpecs), suggesting CMF frequently plays a co-investor or syndicate-participant role rather than a price-setting lead.
Check Size
No check-size figures are publicly disclosed on the website or in press coverage. Given the fund's participation alongside larger syndicate leads on $5M-$80M rounds, individual checks are likely in the low-to-mid six figures to low seven figures, but this should be treated as unconfirmed.
Lead Tendency
Available evidence (financing announcements naming other firms as lead investor) points to CMF more often following/co-investing than leading. However, General Partner Alvin Vitangcol holds board seats (not just observer seats) at several portfolio companies (AIQ Solutions, backstitch, enosix, Health Scholars, LightGuide), which indicates a meaningfully active, non-passive investment style even when not the headline lead.
Recent Activity
CMF has been a continuously active investor over the past several years, both through new financings in its own portfolio and exits:
- January 2022: Portfolio company FactoryFix raised a $10M Series A
- January 2022: CMF announced a formal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative
- May 2022: Portfolio company SkySpecs raised an $80M strategic investment led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management
- August 2022: Portfolio company ThirdPartyTrust was acquired by BitSight
- October 2022: Portfolio company Blue Pillar was acquired by Generac
- January 2023: Portfolio company Textel was acquired by Capacity
- March 2023: Portfolio company Elate raised a $4.9M Series A
- February 2024: Portfolio company Valid8 Financial launched a new "Stories" product feature
- March 2024: Portfolio company Sprocket Security raised an $8M Series A led by Blueprint Equity
Third-party trackers (PitchBook, Superscout) reference continued activity in AIQ Solutions into 2025/2026, though exact dates could not be independently confirmed from a primary source and are omitted from structured activity data pending verification.
Portfolio Highlights
Notable exits include ThirdPartyTrust (acquired by BitSight, 2022), Blue Pillar (acquired by Generac, 2022), Textel (acquired by Capacity, 2023), Realync (acquired by Susquehanna Growth Equity, 2020), and ScholarCentric (acquired by AdvancePath Academics in 2015, later passing through Graduation Alliance and Intellispark). SkySpecs stands out as a scale-up success, having raised $80M from Goldman Sachs Asset Management in 2022. The current live portfolio spans roughly 30 active companies, reflecting a broad, sector-agnostic Midwest generalist strategy anchored in enterprise and industrial technology.
Team
- Daniel Einhorn, General Partner — Focuses on new client development, syndicating investment for portfolio companies, financial analysis, strategic planning, and market research. MBA in finance from the Cox School of Business at SMU; BS from Cornell University. Co-manages the fund with his father, Stephen Einhorn.
- Alvin Vitangcol, General Partner — 20 years of venture capital and investment banking experience. Sits on the board for CMF's investments in AIQ Solutions, backstitch, enosix, Health Scholars, and LightGuide, and serves as a board observer for Elate and SkySpecs. Previously a board director for Sierra Oncology (NASDAQ: SRRA) and ThirdPartyTrust. MS in Management from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; BS in Sociology from Andrews University.
- Jacob DeZarn, General Partner — MS in Finance from Fordham University; BS in Marketing and International Business from Oklahoma State University.
- Stephen Einhorn, Advisor — Founder of Einhorn Associates; has participated in over 200 business sales and purchases over a 30+ year career, with deep M&A and business valuation experience. Chairman emeritus of Cornell University's Entrepreneurial Committee.
- Michael S. Harper, Advisor — 25 years in financial services, ESG, and risk management; former Chairperson of the Milwaukee County Employees Retirement System (MCERS) Pension Board; previously Operator/Partner of Urban Clean Energy Ventures.
Decision Process
CMF operates as a small partnership (three General Partners: Daniel Einhorn, Alvin Vitangcol, and Jacob DeZarn) rather than a solo-GP structure, supported by two named advisors. Capital Midwest Fund IV, which closed in December 2021 raising $41M, is managed jointly by Einhorn, Vitangcol, and Harper.
Founder Preferences
CMF favors founding teams that combine technical or domain fluency with demonstrated commercial traction — i.e., teams that have already found a specific, provable customer problem and shown market acceptance, rather than pure R&D or unproven pre-revenue concepts.
Geographic Focus
Central United States / Midwest, with the firm itself based in Mequon, Wisconsin (Milwaukee metro area). Portfolio companies are concentrated in the Midwest and broader Central US corridor, consistent with CMF's stated mandate.