Founded in 2021, Homegrown Capital is a South Dakota–based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage, technology-driven companies across the Midwest and Northern Plains. Our mission is to demonstrate that world-class businesses can be built “between the coasts” by leveraging deep regional networks, a hands-on partnership model, and board-level guidance to accelerate growth and long-term success.

General Partners Tim Weelborg and Matt Paulson bring decades of deal-making experience to every investment. Tim Weelborg has facilitated over 100 venture and angel transactions, established 14 community-based angel funds in South Dakota, and previously served as Executive Director of the South Dakota Enterprise Institute. Matt Paulson has personally invested in more than 75 startups—including Buffer, Bushel, Density, Dollar Shave Club, Lyft, Prismatic, and Wikia—and is the founder and former CEO of MarketBeat, as well as an active board member for several high-growth companies.

We focus on Seed to Series A rounds, typically leading or co-leading investments of $500,000 to $2 million in companies that have proven product-market fit and early traction. Our industry preferences include B2B software, AgTech, FinTech, and media/subscription models—sectors where technology can drive outsized scalability without excessive regulatory hurdles. While our core activity is in the Midwest and Northern Plains, we remain open to exceptional “between-the-coasts” opportunities that align with our hands-on growth approach

Since launching our inaugural $17.2 million fund in 2021, Homegrown Capital has backed a diverse set of innovators—including Grain Weevil, Prismatic, ProsperStack, SiteKick, Soiltech Wireless—and launched its sophomore fund in May 2025 targeting $30 million to meet growing founder demand. 

About Tim

Tim Weelborg is a managing partner and co-founder of Homegrown Capital. He is involved with every aspect of the venture business from fundraising and investor relations to deal sourcing and due diligence to portfolio management and board participation. He serves on the board of directors of several portfolio companies of the Existing HGC Funds (as defined below), including Soiltech Wireless, Sentinel Fertigation, School of Traditional Skills, SiteKick, Devii, and CoCo Coders. He also serves as a board observer for several other portfolio companies.

Prior to launching Homegrown Capital, Tim worked at the Enterprise Institute (EI). He joined EI in 2003 as the Assistant Director specializing in finance. Tim was promoted to Executive Director in 2009. In addition to his management responsibilities, Tim also worked with highgrowth entrepreneurs as an entrepreneur coach and worked with early-stage investors. Tim and the Enterprise Institute are credited with formalizing angel investing in South Dakota by creating a nationally recognized angel fund network, consisting of 14 angel investment funds throughout South Dakota at the time Tim left the company.

Tim also worked as a corporate financial analyst with John Morrell & Co. in Sioux Falls, a business analyst in the marketing and new business development divisions of Navitaire, a Minneapolis based software company, and he was the sales and marketing director for Med-Pac, Inc. in Fargo, ND. He served as an adjunct professor at South Dakota State University for 10 years, teaching courses on finance and new venture management in the entrepreneurial studies program. He has been an active real estate investor and founded a full-service property management firm in 2009 which he successfully sold in 2014.

Tim received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics from South Dakota State University and an M.B.A. from Colorado State University. Tim is also a certified Economic Development Finance Professional and a certified Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst. Tim is also a graduate of VC University, a program for venture capital practitioners hosted by Berkeley Law School and the National Venture Capital Association.

About Matt

Matt Paulson is a managing partner and co-founder of Homegrown Capital. He is involved with every aspect of the venture business, including deal sourcing, selection, analysis, monitoring, and administration. He currently serves on the board of directors for three existing Homegrown Capital portfolio companies, Pitchly, PointsPath, and Prismatic. 

Matt is also the founder and CEO of MarketBeat, an Inc. 5000 financial media company that empowers individual investors to make better trading decisions with real-time financial data, in-depth market analysis, and best-in-class stock research tools. MarketBeat has been recognized by Barron’s, Entrepreneur, Financial Times, Inc., and NASDAQ for its rapid growth and success. With more than 6 million subscribers, MarketBeat is the largest digital media company in the Dakotas.

Matt is also one of the most active venture capital investors in the Midwest. Matt has personally invested in more than 80 high-growth technology companies including Buffer, Bushel, ConvertKit, Density, Dollar Shave Club, Lyft, Prismatic, and Wikia. Prior to launching Homegrown Capital, he served as an officer for three angel investment funds in South Dakota. Matt also invests in commercial real estate as a general partner at Cresten Capital, including ownership interests in more than 30 apartment complexes and retail centers.

Matt received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Dakota State University, with a minor in mathematics. Matt also has a Master of Science in Information Systems degree from Dakota State University, a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership degree from Sioux Falls Seminary, and an honorary Doctor of Science in Public Service from Dakota State University. 

About Megan

Megan Baniecke is an Associate at Homegrown Capital, where she partners with the firm’s managing partners on sourcing and executing early-stage investments and supporting the firm’s growing portfolio.

Prior to joining Homegrown Capital, Megan spent 4.5 years at gener8tor, where she led 13 accelerator programs, including the MSP Equity Accelerator, gBETA St. Thomas, gALPHA St. Thomas, and gBETA Medtech. As Managing Director, she owned full program operations, including designing and executing accelerator curricula, coordinating mentors, investors, and partners, and delivering multi-month programs at scale. Alongside program execution, she ran core investment workflows, building and managing recruitment for three accelerator programs annually, leading diligence processes, preparing investment materials, supporting capital deployment, and executing 10 early-stage investments.

Through this work, Megan developed an execution-oriented investing perspective shaped by managing complex programs, deploying capital, and operating at the intersection of investment decision-making and portfolio accountability. She brings a disciplined approach to identifying scalable business models, capital-efficient opportunities, and teams positioned to build durable companies.

Megan is deeply involved in the Midwest startup and venture ecosystem and maintains an active presence across founder, investor, and accelerator networks. She regularly engages with early-stage founders, investors, and ecosystem partners through events, programs, and investor communities, and participates in organizations such as Women in VC and MN:EVC.

Megan is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship from the University of St. Thomas, where she also played collegiate softball during her time as a student.

About William

Dr. William Aderholdt is a venture partner for Homegrown Capital with a specialization in ag. tech.

William is also the Executive Director of Grand Farm, a non-profit organization energizing and guiding an innovation ecosystem to solve challenges in agriculture. William joined Grand Farm in 2019 as it was getting started, and was the first hire of the initiative. He helped develop and establish the strategic vision and programs that he now has the opportunity to lead through the immense effort of an extremely talented team. Grand Farm, providing a fresh approach to innovation ecosystems, has been the lead, co-lead, and a consortium member on many of the economic resiliency federal programs established in response to COVID-19 – including NSF Engine Type II, EDA Good Jobs Challenge, and EDA Tech Hubs. It has a nearly 600-acre Innovation Campus in Casselton, North Dakota, where the initiative is headquartered, and teams starting in Georgia and Montana.

William is passionate about the process of innovation — how collaboration, competition, and collision work in chorus to inevitably lead to solutions to the world’s largest challenges. A process which has repeated itself countless times throughout human history, all around the world.

William, his wife Lana, and their two children call Fargo, North Dakota home. Fargo and North Dakota captivated Lana and William during the Fargo Marathon in 2016, during which the decision was made to move there from Montana. William was drawn to the community because it was large enough to make a global impact and small enough to have focus.

He earned both his PhD and Master in Education, and a B.S. in Cell Biology and Neuroscience from Montana State University. While completing his dissertation, he learned software development and data science – providing a foundation of understanding in emerging technologies he now uses every day in his work.