Norwest traces its roots back to 1961 with the formation of the Northwest Venture Fund, a private equity and venture capital affiliate of Norwest Corporation, a midwestern bank based in Minneapolis that merged with Wells Fargo in 1998. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Minneapolis was an early site for both venture capital and high-technology business. The VC industry was active with the formation of the first Small Business Investment Company and First Midwest Capital Corporation. In 1957, Control Data Corporation, a pioneering supercomputer company, was founded by William Norris. Two years later Norris was instrumental in the formation of the Northwest Growth Fund and the firm was active in the Minneapolis high-tech industry. The Northwest Growth Fund grew under the leadership of CEO Robert Zicarelli including the opening of an office in Silicon Valley. Zicarelli retired in 1988 and was succeeded by Daniel Haggerty who retired in the 1990s. George J, Still, Jr. and Promod Haque took over as managing partners in 1994. Norwest's main LP is Wells Fargo. Norwest's managing general partner, John Lindahl, was quoted in the article, "Having a sole limited partner means we do not have to spend time raising outside money and trying to communicate to 25 limited partners." In January 2016, the firm announced Norwest Venture Partners XIII, a $1.2B fund, and Wells Fargo was the sole investor in this fund. In 2017, Norwest had 17 liquidity events, including nine company acquisitions and two initial public offerings. In February 2018, the firm announced Norwest Venture Partners XIV, a $1.5B fund, in which Wells Fargo is a major investor. Notable investments for Norwest includes Dairy Queen, Spotify, Casper and Kendra Scott.
Executives
Norwest is led by senior managing partner Promod Haque and managing partners Jeff Crowe and Jon Kossow.
Promod Haque - joined Norwest in 1990 and was named its senior managing partner in 2013. As of early 2019, his investments in more than 70 companies have produced more than $40 billion in exit values. His recent investments include CognitiveScale, Dtex Systems, Health Catalyst, Prevedere, Shape Security, Simpplr and SlashNext. Haque has been named to the Forbes MidasList of top tech investors since 2001, and in 2014 was named by Forbes as a “Hall of Fame” investor. 2016 marked his 12th appearance on the list, including 2004, when he was ranked the #1 venture capitalist based on performance over the previous decade.
Jeff Crowe - joined Norwest in 2004 and became a managing partner in 2013. He worked in the tech world for 20 years as cofounder and CEO of software company Edify. In recent years, Crowe has invested in Jet.com, as well as HoneyBook and Modsy. He currently serves on the boards of Common, Extole, Glint, Grove Collaborative, HoneyBook, Madison Reed, Modsy, Opendoor, Owler, and Talkspace. Crowe is responsible for Norwest's investments in Spotify, Uber and Minted. He was named to the Forbes Midas List in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Jon Kossow - joined Norwest in 2009 and became a managing partner in 2018. Kossow focuses on growth equity opportunities in information services, software, internet, and business services. He was previously a director at Goldman Sachs and a principal at TA Associates in Menlo Park, California. His investments include Infutor, Cority, 1010data, Clarus Commerce, The Rainmaker Group and The Retail Equation. Kossow currently serves on the boards of Avetta, Cority, Infutor, Manta Media, The Rainmaker Group, Topo Athletic, and Wine Access, with additional active investments in ACL, Appriss and TurnItIn.
