# Elevate Ventures

> Elevate Ventures is Indiana's venture development partner, a public-private venture capital firm founded in 2011 to make early-stage bets on the state's startups. From offices on Virginia Avenue in Indianapolis, it has put more than $180 million into roughly 600 companies across all 86 counties, backing software, life sciences, and hardtech founders at the pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages while running programming that reaches thousands more.

- **Founded:** 2011
- **Headquarters:** Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
- **Founders:** Mitch Daniels (Founding Governor (spun Elevate out of the IEDC in 2011))
- **Team size:** About 40 employees
- **Products:** Early-stage venture capital, Elevate+, RALLY, Elevate Origins, Grant and voucher programs
- **Notable:** Ranked the #1 most active seed and early-stage venture capital firm in the Great Lakes region, Ranked among the top 10 seed and early-stage investors in the United States, Invested more than $180 million into roughly 600 Indiana startups since 2011

## Products & services

- **Early-stage venture capital** — Direct investments of roughly $20K to $2M per round, up to about $8M per company across the pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages, focused on cross-sector innovation-driven companies with a large addressable market.
- **Elevate+** — Post-investment support program that provides portfolio companies with mentorship, resources, and strategic guidance after a check is written.
- **RALLY** — A multi-day cross-sector innovation conference launched in Indianapolis, featuring 200+ speakers, investor meetups, a demo arena, and a pitch competition awarding five $1 million investments.
- **Elevate Origins** — Early-stage resources and programming aimed at getting first-time and early founders investment-ready.
- **Grant and voucher programs** — Non-dilutive grant and voucher funding delivered to Indiana innovators, totaling roughly $14 million on top of direct equity investment.

## Achievements

- Ranked the #1 most active seed and early-stage venture capital firm in the Great Lakes region
- Ranked among the top 10 seed and early-stage investors in the United States
- Invested more than $180 million into roughly 600 Indiana startups since 2011
- Provided assistance to nearly 4,000 companies across all 86 Indiana counties
- Delivered about $14 million in grant and voucher programs on top of equity investment
- Launched RALLY, one of the largest cross-sector innovation conferences in the U.S., drawing 3,000+ attendees

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Indiana Gov. Mike Braun froze funding designated for Elevate Ventures and ordered a forensic audit of the IEDC and its affiliates, including a second tranche of SSBCI funds.
- **2025-08** — The IEDC deemed Elevate Ventures and affiliates in breach of lending language in their active loan agreements and gave the firm 30 days to cure the breaches.
- **2025-09** — The IEDC board voted to let Elevate Ventures resume investment operations using capital already loaned to the funds it manages on Indiana's behalf.
- **2025-08** — Organizers said the RALLY innovation conference would take a one-year pause and would continue without state support.

## Links

- Website: https://elevateventures.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elevate-ventures-inc-
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ElevateIN

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/elevate-ventures
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-15