Grit Road Partners, an agtech-focused venture capital firm based in Nebraska, recently announced the launch of Grit Road Fund II. With the goal of raising $35 million, Grit Road has completed the initial close of Fund II and has begun to deploy capital. Leadership said they want to be a more impactful lead investor in early startups while acting as a continued resource in the Midwest agtech ecosystem.

Grit Road launched its first fund of $11.25 million in 2023. The fund invests in seed stage startups solving problems across the agriculture and food value chain. This could be anything from tracking livestock vitals and increasing crop yields to improving processing plants and overall business management. 

According to Grit Road’s overview and mission statement, the firm focuses on scalable companies demonstrating “early signs of product-market fit” and raising at least $500,000 in a formal financing round. Grit Road Co-founder and Partner Ben Williamson added that Grit Road can pursue startups ranging from pre-seed to Series A, but the firm still concentrates on seed stage companies. 

In an email to SPN, Williamson said he and Grit Road Co-founder and Managing Partner Mike Jung identified a gap between traditional venture hubs, founders and investors, and the agriculture industry — both in understanding and proximity. 

“We believed, and still do, that there is a huge opportunity for these companies to be built and funded in places and by people that are on the front lines of ag,” he said. “To accomplish that, we intentionally raised most of Fund I from agriculture companies, trade groups and producers.”

Williamson said Fund I’s typical checks of $250,000 weren’t as effective as the firm had hoped for leading investment rounds. He continued that a larger fund allows “bigger checks” and “bigger follow-on allocation.” 

Grit Road’s impact

Through Fund I, Grit Road grew its portfolio to 23 companies. While Grit Road isn’t “constrained geographically” and can invest in founders from other regions and abroad, Williamson said the firm tries to prioritize Midwest startups. He said six of the 23 companies were originally from Nebraska with an additional two — HerdDogg and Cattler — moving their headquarters to the state.

“Our mission is to help build the Midwest into the global agtech hub, which includes building companies in the Midwest and ‘exporting’ them to other regions and the world,” Williamson said. 

The eight Nebraska-based startups:

• Birds Eye Robotics
• Grain Weevil 
• Sentinel Ag (Formally Sentinel Irrigation)
• Marble Technologies
• HerdDogg
• Corral Technologies (Currently inactive) 
• Cattler
• Landoption

HerdDogg CEO Andrew Uden said the smart tag startup for monitoring livestock health moved from Wyoming to Seward, Nebraska. He was drawn by Nebraska’s expansive feedlot industry and has existing connections to the state.

Uden said HerdDogg has tapped into local investors and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for research.

A UNL graduate experienced in agtech, Uden said he knew Williamson and Jung in the startup ecosystem before they started Grit Road and invested in HerdDogg. Now a portfolio company, Uden said HerdDogg has benefited from Grit Road’s knowledge base and connections. 

“They have a lot of cattle-related companies, so we’ve been slowly integrating with other companies in their portfolio,” Uden said. “We get to bounce ideas off of one another. We get to connect each other with other investors and other potential customers.”

Through its interactions with entrepreneurs, Williamson said, Grit Road has observed founder demand for services and resources addressing business topics including HR, operations, sales and finance. Grit Road has reached out and established a network of industry leaders, mentors and investors for its portfolio to tap into, positioning the firm as an ecosystem connector. Partners include Invest Nebraska and The Combine. 

Before shifting gears in July 2025 to serve full time in his current role at Grit Road, Williamson acted as principal and general counsel for Invest Nebraska. He still serves as a strategic adviser for the nonprofit venture development organization.

“Just from their historical experience and their jobs they’ve previously held, (Williamson and Jung) brought all that into the fund, and it definitely shows,” Uden said. “They know the practical side of running companies.”

Williamson said he still encourages burgeoning entrepreneurs and founders in the community to reach out to him for advice and to connect with other guiding forces in the ecosystem.