Bread & Butter Ventures

The three managing partners — Stephanie Rich, Mary Grove, and Brett Brohl — collectively make investment decisions. Grove contributes institutional venture experience from her prior role leading Google for Startups, Brohl brings domain depth in food and agriculture technology from running the Techstars Farm to Fork accelerator, and Rich provides operating experience within the Twin Cities startup ecosystem. No single partner holds unilateral investment authority; the firm operates a consensus-based investment committee model.

Bread & Butter Ventures concentrates on seed-stage investments, typically deploying initial checks under $1 million into pre-revenue and early-revenue companies. The firm occasionally participates in follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies but does not pursue growth-stage or late-stage strategies. The focus remains on capital-efficient startups that can demonstrate product-market fit with minimal dilution.

The firm sources primarily through regional networks anchored in the Twin Cities corporate ecosystem — executives and alumni from Cargill, General Mills, Target, and the University of Minnesota's research pipeline. The managing partners' operating history at Techstars and Google for Startups provides additional founder referrals. Bread & Butter also maintains relationships with regional economic development agencies and accelerator programs across the Upper Midwest.

Bread & Butter is thesis-driven, concentrating on three verticals: food and agricultural technology, digital health, and enterprise software. The firm explicitly avoids sectors lacking Midwest competitive advantages — semiconductor hardware, deep-tech requiring coastal lab infrastructure, and ad-tech. Within its three verticals, the firm evaluates any business model that can benefit from proximity to regional industrial supply chains.

The firm does not mandate relocation but requires a substantive operational presence in the Upper Midwest — whether through customer pilots, distribution partnerships, or key hires in the region. Companies headquartered elsewhere must demonstrate a tangible rationale for accessing Midwest infrastructure or talent, not merely accept capital.

Managing Partner Brett Brohl previously led the Techstars Farm to Fork accelerator, which was operated in partnership with Cargill and Ecolab and based in Minneapolis. Bread & Butter is an independent entity and has no formal structural tie to Techstars as of 2024, though the partnership's alumni network and deal-flow relationships date to that program. Several portfolio companies originated from Techstars referrals.

Bread & Butter actively syndicates seed rounds with coastal and regional venture firms, typically serving as a local anchor investor who can provide on-the-ground diligence and portfolio support. The firm does not lead rounds above its check-size capacity and does not operate a co-investment club or LP co-investment program — all capital deploys through the main fund vehicles.