flywheel chapters

growing Indiana’s startup capital and investor network

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Greater Lafayette

Flywheel Greater Lafayette launched in 2023 in partnership with the IEDC, MatchBOX Coworking Studio, and Purdue University.

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Bloomington

The flagship fund launched in 2020 with 11 members and $120,00 in capital. By 2021, it had more than quadrupled in investors and dollars. Today it invests $1 million annually.

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South Bend–Elkhart

Flywheel Fund South Bend–Elkhart launched in 2023 with assistance from the South Bend–Elkhart Regional Partnership.

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our criteria

We look at three factors when we evaluate startups: team, market, and product. Team is particularly important, since we’re investing in early. We’re looking for capital-efficient tech companies with innovative products, healthy market potential, and the leadership  to reach product market fit.

Local emphasis

For each chapter, we put our thumb on the scale for local companies, ensuring we source and develop startups to meet our investment criteria. We aim to invest 1/3 of the capital in each chapter in its local startups, with the remaining 2/3 funded into startups from the rest of the state.

Our NETWORK

Flywheel Fund is a good fit for startups who want active investors who can help shape operations and strategy. While we don’t take board seats, after investment, one of our members will meet with and mentor the CEO for the first year and periodically thereafter.

diverse teams

We also care deeply about diversity, not only in the founders we fund, but in our portfolio companies’ leadership teams. Diverse teams get better results, and we’re investing, literally, in your success. So when we invest, we’ll ask you to commit to building a diverse team.

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