# The Winnow Fund

The Winnow Fund is a Venture Capital based in Madison, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Madison, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Madison, WI, United States
- **Founded:** 2019
- **Assets under management:** $10M–$20M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** winnowfund.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/winnow-fund

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Winnow Fund invests in exceptional founders across the Upper Midwest, including Wisconsin. Its strategy involves making numerous small investments in early-stage companies. Fund I raised more than $10 million and invested in nearly a dozen companies. Winnow Fund is a portfolio fund under the Badger Fund of Funds.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- Consumer Tech
- Digital Health
- AgriTech & FoodTech

## People

- Ricardo Pascual — Managing Director

## Questions

### Who makes investment decisions at The Winnow Fund?

Ricardo Pascual serves as Managing Director and is the sole publicly named decision-maker at the firm. He launched the fund while completing his law degree at the University of Wisconsin and operates as both general partner and primary investment committee member. No other investment professionals are disclosed in public records.

### What check size does The Winnow Fund typically write?

The firm targets initial checks of approximately $250,000 into seed-stage companies, per its own public communications. Fund I's $10.5 million was allocated across roughly 20 investments, implying average initial deployment in that range, with reserves held for follow-on participation in subsequent rounds.

### Does The Winnow Fund invest outside Wisconsin?

Geography is dictated by university affiliation, not state borders. While most portfolio companies are based in Madison or Milwaukee, the fund has backed UW alumni-founded startups elsewhere in the Midwest. The binding condition is the UW connection, not physical location of the company's headquarters.

### Has The Winnow Fund raised a second fund?

Ricardo Pascual has referenced a target Fund II raise in public appearances, but no final close or regulatory filing had been confirmed as of early 2026. Fund I deployment was completed in 2023, placing the firm in a typical fundraising window for a successor vehicle.

### How does The Winnow Fund source its deals?

Deal flow is concentrated around the University of Wisconsin ecosystem — through campus pitch competitions, faculty referrals, UW–Madison's D2P (Discovery to Product) program, and alumni networks. The firm's co-hosted events, including the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium's university track, function as structured sourcing channels alongside informal campus relationships.

### Who funded The Winnow Fund's first vehicle?

Fund I's $10.5 million came from approximately two dozen limited partners, per the firm's own disclosures. The anchor commitment came from the Badger Fund of Funds — a state-chartered fund-of-funds program capitalized by Wisconsin's Small Business Credit Initiative allocation — supplemented by individual University of Wisconsin alumni and regional family offices.

## Related profiles

- [The White Oak Group](https://altss.com/profile/the-white-oak-group)
- [The Xchange Company](https://altss.com/profile/the-xchange-company)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:18.003Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/the-winnow-fund

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