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Ted Velie

Co-Founder at Midwest House

Ted Velie is the Co-Founder of Midwest House, an experiential platform established in 2015 that aims to connect innovators and creators from the Midwest with a broader audience. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Midwest House serves as a hub for showcasing the region's diverse talents and fostering a community of innovation that transcends traditional expectations of the Midwest.12

In addition to his role at Midwest House, Velie is also a Co-Chair for Michigan Tech Week, which focuses on bringing together leaders in technology and innovation.12 His professional background includes various roles, such as Principal at Globe Vise and Truck and Chief Operations Officer at Globe of Michigan, where he contributed to the manufacturing and educational sectors.1

Velie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts in English-Creative Writing from the University of Colorado Boulder.1 His career reflects a blend of entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to community engagement, particularly in the context of the Midwestern innovation landscape.

Highlights

Sep 3 · linkedin

The thesis Midwest House has been working under is that we can create an authentic regional innovation community through reliably connective pop-up events at different venues around the Midwest. Nothing has been proven yet and much still needs to be done...but standing in front of 300-odd leaders and innovators last week at RALLY it sure felt like we were on to something.

Joshua Kline, our partner for Midwest House at Rally, has a mantra about the power of "showing up", and man oh man did our Midwest community pop out and show up last week.

Our friends at World Business Chicago collaborated with us to bring founders from all over the region to Indy for the event. Then our friends at Venture 313 & ID Ventures jumped in to help us bring a few more. Then the folks at 16 Tech Innovation District & Sixty8 Capital said we want to make sure these founders feel welcomed. All told 15(!) Midwestern founders got to attend Rally, meet investors and fellow founders, and connect w/ Indiana's tech ecosystem. Shout out to Nicole McCarthy, Elle Ramel, Abin Kuriakose, Arantxa Valverde, Belvin Liles III, Jeff Ponders II, Nida Ansari, & Kelli N. Jones for making all that possible. Shout out as well to Cooley LLP & ActiveCampaign for supporting the effort.

Our friends at Founders N' Funders put together a Reverse Pitch event that filled the Midwest House with VCs and founders from all across the region. Jeff Erickson & Inger Erickson came all the way from Utah to help us put together one of the more electric events I've ever been a part of. Huge shout to them and to Allos Ventures, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, 11 Tribes Ventures, Cintrifuse, Elevate Ventures, M25, Plymouth Growth, Mercato, & ID Ventures for participating. As well as to Fidelity Investments, Cooley, Forecastr, Coconut VA, & Orr Fellowship for supporting.

On top of that: -our friends at Stellar put together a riveting afternoon of AI focused programming. -the fellas at Element Three joined with ground game ventures to create three hours of Outdoor Innovation related conversation that (featuring our friends at the Michigan Outdoor Recreation Industry Office and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund just to name a few).

  • Silicon Valley Bank helped us do some VC/Founder Matchmaking.
  • And finally ShipSigma helped us close the whole thing out with our "Fly Over This!" closing party (shout out to IDA Ireland & Be Nimble Foundation for joining in the fun)

And, oh yeah, the wonderful folks at Elevate put on Rally to bring nearly 4000 people to Indy for 2 days of innovation and inspiration that will keep us all buzzing for weeks to come. (I've run out of tags or you'd be getting another big list of folks right here).

All this is to say... our thesis is still looking pretty good this week. It may end up taking a number of villages to build this thing right, but momentum is on our side for the moment.

Let's keep it rolling, y'all.

Aug 24 · linkedin

"Where do I go to meet and hear from investors at an event like RALLY?"

Answer: 👇

The Founders N' Funders VC Reverse Pitch & Mixer event on Tues, Aug 27th Midwest House at Rally. (RSVP https://lnkd.in/guGn2GZm)

This event will take place right after the final keynote speaker at the RALLY Innovation Conference Day 1 (5:00pm)

We have 9 amazing VCs from different firms who will be pitching to the founders who are in attendance.

💥 Mei Headley (Mercato) - Utah 💥 Katie Birge (M25) - Chicago/Indy 💥 Belvin Liles III (ID Ventures) - Detroit 💥 Michelle Erikson (Plymouth Growth) - Ann Arbor 💥 Christopher (Toph) Day (Elevate Ventures) - Indy 💥 Max Dworin (Cintrifuse) - Cincinnati 💥 Kristina Chapple (11 Tribes Ventures) - Chicago 💥 Joey Alfieri (TechNexus Venture Collaborative) - Chicago 💥 David Kerr (Allos Ventures) - Indy

See you in Indianapolis next week!!!


➡️ Full-time founders can apply here to attend for free: https://lnkd.in/guGn2GZm

Shout out to our partners at Fidelity Investments Cooley LLP TechPoint Orr Fellowship Forecastr & Coconut VA for making it all possible.

Related Questions

What inspired Ted Velie to co-found Midwest House?
How has Midwest House impacted the innovation community in the Midwest?
What are some notable events organized by Midwest House?
How did Ted Velie's experience at Globe Vise and Truck influence his career?
What is the mission of Michigan Tech Week, and how does it align with Midwest House's goals?
Ted Velie
Ted Velie, photo 1
Ted Velie, photo 2
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Experience

Co-Founder at Midwest House (March 2015 - Present)
Co-Chair at Michigan Tech Week (January 2023 - May 2024), Principal at Globe Vise and Truck (January 2012 - April 2015)

Education

BA in Economics from University of Michigan (1998 - 2002), MFA in English-Creative Writing from University of Colorado Boulder (2005 - 2008)

Location

Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States