Elevate Ventures
No summary available yet.
Elevate is the scrappy state champion that punches above its weight class—they're legitimately the #1 most active early-stage VC in the Great Lakes and crack the top 10 nationally despite being based in Indianapolis. But here's the reality check: they're essentially a government-backed fund masquerading as private VC. In 2025, they got slapped with breach notices from the Indiana Economic Development Corp after defaulting on loan agreements, though a forensic audit later cleared them of illegal activity. The returns are underwhelming—their first fund achieved just a 1.24x MOIC with their overall portfolio at 1.2x. Toph Day is a genuine entrepreneur who built real companies, but founders should know this isn't coastal VC money—it's public dollars with political strings attached.
- —Best for: Midwest founders who need patient capital and hands-on ecosystem building
- —Watch out for: Government funding constraints and modest returns vs. coastal peers
- —Known for: Being absurdly active deal-makers who genuinely care about Indiana's ecosystem
Elevate invests in high-potential, cross-sector innovation companies, focusing on Indiana and Great Lakes Region entrepreneurs building cross-sector innovations. The firm believes the best founders exhibit grit, creativity, and coachability.
They invest at Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A stages in companies headquartered in or with significant presence in Indiana. They focus on four key sectors: software, life sciences, hardtech and consumer products. In 2024, their investments were distributed across software (72 commitments), life science (19 commitments), hardtech (9 commitments), and product-based businesses (3 commitments).
Toph is the CEO of Elevate Ventures, the #1 most active Seed and Early Stage investor in the Great Lakes Region. He's been a community builder and entrepreneur for over 25 years, having co-founded eight businesses in seven different sectors and been part of $600M in transactions with nearly a 4x cash-on-cash return for investors. Born and raised on a small farm in the Lafayette area, he's a 1992 Purdue graduate who returned to Indiana after working in Georgia and Texas.
Have a specific question about Elevate Ventures?
Ask Bernie →