Jonathon Horne, a former investment banker in New York, is all about homegrown innovation in the Midwest. His venture capital firm, the Idea Fund of La Crosse, is exclusively targeting companies based in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. “A lot of people try to cram the Silicon Valley model onto whatever geography they happen to live in,” Horne says. “You need an investment strategy that’s specifically tailored to our part of the country.” In spring, the firm closed on a $31.5 million fund that Horne plans to distribute to startups in industries with a strong regional presence like health care, agriculture, and manufacturing—fields that Horne describes as “ripe for disruption.”