PV-based venture capital firm profiled in Silicon Prairie News

Fred Coulson

An investment company founded by an SM East grad and run out of an office just east of 75th Street and Mission Road got a big write up Tuesday in Silicon Prairie News, a site that focuses on entrepreneurship and investment in the Midwest.

Fred Coulson founded Five Elms Capital in 2006 after more than a decade working in finance in London and New York. The University of Kansas business school graduate now leads a team that looks to invest in small businesses that have shown the potential for scalability, typically putting in $1-10 million to fund the company’s growth.

Coulson told Silicon Prairie News the firm has a preference for working with Midwestern companies:

The density of ideas has increased in Kansas City over the last four or five years. Just as recent as a few years ago there were a lot of really smart people doing really cool things but nobody really knew what others were doing. Everyone was on their own island thinking they were the only one doing something interesting in the area because of the lack of density that our communities have. That lack of density provides for a great lifestyle— but it doesn’t facilitate the level of interaction that Silicon Valley, New York, or Boston have. That is changing. Both the Google (Fiber) project and the Kauffman Foundation have brought a lot of people in the region together. A huge side effect of Google’s fiber plan is just getting people together to talk about things and share what they’re doing (whether it has something to do with Google fiber or not at all). Just getting people together to share ideas and share what they’re doing is a very positive step.

See the full story here.