Groove Capital reaches 100 startup investments from Minneapolis base

Groove Capital has made its 100th startup investment, a milestone for the Minneapolis early-stage firm and a signal that more seed funding capacity is forming outside the traditional coastal venture hubs. The firm did not disclose the company behind the 100th investment, the check size, valuation, fund assets or total capital deployed, but it said angels in its network have invested more than $6 million into deals alongside its funds.

Groove launched in 2020 with a structure that combines an angel network and a venture fund. The model is designed to give founders access to a first institutional check while letting individual investors participate directly in selected companies through the Groove Investment Group or indirectly as limited partners in Groove-led funds.

That hybrid structure is the more notable part of the announcement. In markets such as Minnesota, early seed rounds often depend on a mix of local angels, smaller funds and operators writing personal checks. A managed network paired with a fund can help standardize deal flow, diligence and round coordination, which are areas where smaller startup markets tend to have fewer dedicated institutions.

Groove describes itself as focused on first institutional capital, and said about half of its portfolio companies are women-led and minority-owned. It did not name the portfolio companies included in the count or provide performance metrics such as follow-on financing, exits, markups or revenue growth across the portfolio.

Founder and partner Reed Robinson said Minnesota has a record of producing companies that can scale globally and that Groove aims to be an early investor for founders with large ambitions. The firm’s pitch is that founders can use the fund-and-angel network combination to close rounds more efficiently than if they were assembling a syndicate investor by investor.

The firm also said its investor base is extending beyond Minnesota. Its 2026 Angel Fest conference in Minneapolis drew more than 300 attendees from 20 states, according to Groove. The event gives the firm a convening role in the state’s startup ecosystem, where early-stage capital remains thinner than in larger venture markets.

Groove plans to bring its model to additional markets where startup activity is present but seed capital is limited. That expansion, if it happens, would put the firm in the same broad category as regional seed funds and organized angel platforms trying to capture local deal flow before larger venture firms arrive.

For founders and investors outside the coasts, the milestone is less about one undisclosed deal than about infrastructure. A Minnesota early-stage venture and angel network reaching 100 investments suggests that regional capital formation is becoming more organized, even if the scale, returns and durability of the model remain undisclosed.