Fund profile / United States

Gateway Capital Fund II

Geography: United States
Stage: Pre-Seed
Fund size: $25M
Focus: AI/ML, Manufacturing and Supply Chain
Signals: Published

N°01 / About

About Gateway Capital Fund II

Gateway Capital Fund II is a $25M pre-seed VC fund investing across seven Midwest states. Founded by Dana Guthrie in Milwaukee, focusing on overlooked Midwest markets with strengths in supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing AI.

N°02 / Thesis

Investment Focus

Location / RegionUnited States

Funding StagePre-Seed

Industry Focus

AI/ML

Manufacturing

Supply Chain

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Resourceful Midwest pre-seed founder solving problems before the market has named the category

pre-seed

midwest-geography

overlooked-founders

LMI-communities

founder-community

b2b-saas

insurtech

regulatory-compliance

Bullish Signals

First close completed; Fund II actively deploying across eight Midwest statesblog

Fund I produced follow-ons from regional and national VCs plus acquisition exitsblog

Structurally lower entry valuations and less competitive deal flow in Midwest pre-seedblog

Confirmed acquisition exit: Geno.Me acquired by Outcomes4Melinkedin

Co-invests with HealthX Ventures — national healthtech syndicate accesslinkedin

Guthrie personally celebrated exit alongside co-investors — active LP relationslinkedin

Geno.Me: consumer genomics matched to clinical trials — healthtech exit confirmedlinkedin

Outcomes4Me acquirer is Boston-based — national buyer validates Midwest betlinkedin

Co-hosting founder events with Mastercraft Ventures — active community engagementlinkedin

First-In Breakfast: intentional founder access, no-pitch-required networking modellinkedin

Forward Festival Madison August 18: Lamarr and team hosting direct founder accesssocial

Insuraviews ships preference-based filing notifications; infrastructure-layer compliance productlinkedin

Insuraviews roadmap: keyword triggers, rate-change alerts, saved-search notifications plannedlinkedin

Insuraviews targeting carrier compliance task automation; existing customer adoption activelinkedin

Gateway publicly amplified Insuraviews release — active portfolio company promotionlinkedin

Contrarian Signals

First close amount undisclosed — fundraising momentum unverifiedblog

Eight-state coverage risks portfolio fragmentation for a small teamblog

Fund I portfolio names and return metrics remain undisclosedblog

Acquisition terms undisclosed — exit size unverifiablelinkedin

Founder Do's

Be based in IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, MO, OH or WI — geography is a feature not a bug

Pitch before your category has a clean narrative — Gateway writes checks into undefined markets

Highlight resourcefulness and bootstrapped validation over network pedigree

Show a path to attracting regional or national Series A follow-on investors

Attend Gateway events (First-In Breakfast, Forward Festival) for direct low-pressure access

Build infrastructure solving compliance workflows — portfolio proves sticky B2B SaaS demand

Founder Don'ts

Don't approach if you are post-seed or already have institutional capital

Don't rely on coastal VC social proof as validation — it won't land here

Don't obscure LMI or non-traditional background — Guthrie treats it as an asset

33 signals on Gateway Capital Fund II

15 bullish · 4 contrarian · 6 pitch do's · 3 don'ts · 5 GP profiles, each with its source. From €9/month, cancel anytime.

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Facts

Fund Overview

Fund Size$25M

Saves0

Website

People

Key People

Dana Guthrie

Dana GuthrieManaging Partner

Lamarr BanksPartner

MasonTeam Member

NickPortfolio Founder/Operator

CharlesPortfolio Founder/Operator

N°04 / See also

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