[caption id="attachment_605128" align="alignleft" width="322"]
Mason Cook[/caption]
A newly launched venture capital fund headquartered in Beloit has received a $2.4 million investment from the
Badger Fund of Funds.
Mastercraft Ventures, led by fund manager
Mason Cook, is the sixth venture capital fund to receive support from the Badger Fund.
In 2012, the state approved awarding the Badger Fund of Funds its first $25 million. The fund then raised another $10 million from the private sector. From there, the Badger Fund created five more venture capital funds across the state, including Gateway Capital Fund, the Winnow Fund, Rock River Capital Partners, the Idea Fund of La Crosse and the Winnebago Seed Fund.
“With Microsoft investing $3.3 billion dollars in Racine County, and the Hendricks family commitment to growing Beloit, now seemed like the ideal time for a Rock County venture fund focused on southern Wisconsin,” said
Ken Johnson, Badger Fund managing director. “Mason Cook has spent the past year working with the Badger Fund team to develop the Mastercraft investment strategy.”
Cook is an Iowa native. He and his wife ended up in Beloit in 2019 after he took a job running the gBETA Beloit accelerator.
Cook has also spent time working within a technology startup as president of RealityBLU.
"Ever since I learned about venture capital and the impact it can have on a community, my goal has been to become a venture capital manager," said Cook. "That’s why I focused on taking career opportunities and experiences that I'd want an investor in my startup to have."
Mastercraft Ventures is industry-agnostic and will make investments in startups across the state, with an emphasis on counties along the southern border. Cook wants to lead the first round of funding for any company he invests in.
"I've always seen a gap in the ecosystem when startups are raising their first round of funding, but can't find somebody to set those terms," said Cook. “I'm really excited to meet that need and invest in some wonderful companies in Wisconsin. I think we're going to continue to see opportunities grow with investments like Microsoft's."
The Badger Fund has committed the $2.4 million to Mastercraft Ventures with the understanding that the firm will match 40 cents for every 60 cents raised.
Cook expects to initially invest in between 10 to 12 startups with some of the funding provided by the Badger Fund, while keeping a “meaningful portion” of the fund on reserve for additional funding. Mastercraft’s first investments could be made as soon as this summer.
Cook said he's thrilled to further embed himself within Beloit's emerging culture and economy, which has been catalyzed by the Hendricks family and their millions of dollars of investment in the area.
"It's been really exciting for me as a transplant," said Cook. "At one point, this was a huge manufacturing town and those jobs became displaced. Beloit (leaders) saw an opportunity with all of the vacant warehousing space that they have, and they said, 'How can we future proof our economy?'"
Mastercraft expects to register with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to obtain qualified venture fund certification. This designation will offer eligible investors Wisconsin tax benefits when the fund invests in Wisconsin-based startups recognized as qualified new business ventures.
