Wisconn Valley Venture Fund

Abe Yokell and Mark Bakacs lead investment decisions. Yokell co-founded cleantech venture firm Prelude Ventures before joining Wisconn Valley as Managing Partner. Bakacs, formerly a partner at Prelude, serves as Managing Director. Both bring deep cleantech and industrial venture networks to the firm's dealmaking.

Foxconn Technology Group provided the $100 million initial capital commitment and the fund's name — 'Wisconn Valley' was the branding Foxconn used for its planned Wisconsin manufacturing campus. The fund operates as Foxconn's venture investment arm in the US but maintains operational independence in deal selection. Foxconn does not appear to have changed the fund's name or mandate even after the Wisconsin factory project was repeatedly scaled back.

Wisconn Valley makes direct equity investments, typically leading or co-leading early-stage and growth rounds. The fund does not operate as a fund-of-funds or invest in external venture funds. This direct-only approach is consistent with its mandate to forge operational relationships between portfolio companies and Foxconn.

The fund targets early-stage and growth-equity rounds, primarily Series A and B, with check sizes between $1 million and $10 million. It has participated in follow-on rounds for select portfolio companies. The stage concentration reflects its corporate-venture approach of identifying technologies with clear paths to manufacturing scale.

Foxconn's original Mount Pleasant LCD factory commitments were repeatedly downgraded and renegotiated with Wisconsin state officials (per The Verge, 2021). Wisconn Valley continued making investments through this period, suggesting its mandate and capital base remained intact. The fund's San Francisco and California offices also indicate geographic independence from the parent company's Midwest operations.

Wisconn Valley regularly co-invests alongside specialist venture firms, particularly those with cleantech and industrial technology expertise. Known co-investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, and Congruent Ventures. The fund leverages these relationships to source deals and share due diligence on technical hard-tech startups.

The fund has no known investments in biotech, pharmaceuticals, consumer internet, enterprise SaaS outside manufacturing applications, or media. Its portfolio concentrates exclusively on industrial technology, advanced manufacturing, energy storage, and related enterprise tools — avoiding sectors without clear integration potential into Foxconn's supply chain.