Advocate Aurora Health, Foxconn, Johnson Controls and Northwestern Mutual have chosen Jason Franklin to lead Wisconn Valley Venture Fund, a $100m venture capital fund jointly launched by the corporates in August 2018.
Contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn, building systems supplier Johnson Controls, healthcare provider Advocate Aurora Health and insurance firm Northwestern Mutual each supplied $25m to form the fund.
As managing partner and chief executive, Franklin will be tasked with finding, evaluating and closing investments for the vehicle, as well as overseeing its ongoing support to the portfolio companies.
Prior to joining the fund, Franklin was a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, working on investments in portfolio companies such as application programming interface marketplace RapidAPI and vehicle mapping technology developer DeepMap.
After co-founding mobile security technology developer Stamp Labs in 2013 as CEO, Franklin worked as a venture partner at VC firm Avalon Ventures from 2014 to 2016.
Wisconn Valley Venture Fund will invest in early-stage startups with a focus on healthcare, technology, manufacturing and financial services. It is operating out of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and will back companies both in the US and internationally.
Franklin said: “My goal with Wisconn Valley Venture Fund is to generate strong returns and deliver strategic opportunities for all four fund partners, while simultaneously stimulating the already strong entrepreneurial spirit of the region.”
Image of Jason Franklin courtesy of LinkedIn.