Global Midwest Alliance
888.808.0462
Driving Innovation and Growth
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Join us in Chicago for Global Midwest Alliance's 11th Corporate Venturing Conference, hosted and sponsored by K&L Gates and Polsinelli. This premier event brings together the Midwest’s corporate venture capital (CVC) leaders, venture capitalists and innovators to explore strategies driving regional growth and competitiveness.
Over the last decade, corporate venture capital has grown to become a substantial segment of the global venture capital community. Since 2014, the Global Midwest Alliance has hosted an annual conference focused on corporate venturing in the Midwest. This conference provides a focal point and meeting place for Midwest leaders in corporate venturing and those interested in building relationships with them. For participants, the Conference offers an opportunity to gain new insights, share experiences, and network with nearby peers. The Midwest is home to many corporate venture funds; yet there are few local opportunities for such meaningful interactions in the corporate venturing world.
Learn more about how these investors focus on the innovations and technologies that keep the Midwest industrial base competitive. Who are they? Are they strategic or financial investors? At what stage do they invest? How active are they with their portfolio companies? Do they invest as a pathway to acquisition? More broadly, how are Midwest CVCs positioning themselves in the current economic climate? Who is stepping up and who is stepping back?
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
CV industry experts, venture capitalists, institutional limited partners, corporate
C-suite leaders and entrepreneurs from across the Midwest.
WHY YOU NEED TO ATTEND
Meet the Midwest Corporate Venturing community, build your network and gain
perspective on the convergence of opportunities for both corporate venture
programs and non-corporate venture capital firms and their increasingly strategic
value to innovation. Connect with the key players, gain insights into Midwest CVC
trends and discover how these investors are shaping the future of innovation.
Don’t miss this opportunity to network, learn and position yourself at the forefront
of corporate venturing.
This program is intentionally designed for deep engagement, with expert
presentations and candid audience discussion woven throughout. Seating is
strictly limited. REGISTER before October 26, 2026 to secure your place at
the table.
11th Midwest Corporate Venturing Program
About Our Host and Sponsors
K&L Gates is a fully integrated global law firm with lawyers located across five continents. The firm represents leading multinational corporations, growth and middle-market companies, capital markets participants and entrepreneurs in every major industry group as well as public sector entities, educational institutions, philanthropic organizations and individuals. www.klgates.com
Polsinelli is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 1,000 attorneys in 22 offices nationwide. Recognized by legal research firm BTI Consulting as one of the top firms for excellent client service and client relationships, the firm’s attorneys provide value through practical legal counsel infused with business insight, and focus on health care, financial services, real estate, intellectual property, middle-market corporate, labor and employment and business litigation. Polsinelli PC, Polsinelli LLP in California. www.polsinelli.com
Global Midwest Alliance is a business-led, region-wide organization dedicated to transforming the Midwest into an internationally-recognized leader in innovation and business growth. The Alliance aligns and integrates resources throughout the Midwest helping businesses to grow by leveraging existing resources to develop new products and find customers throughout the world. The Alliance is the Private Sector Liaison Office for the World Bank and a member of Global CONNECT. Through these and other affiliations, the Alliance facilitates access to global business opportunities for Midwest business through 155 groups in 98 countries around the world. The Alliance offers educational and networking opportunities through a variety of programs and resources designed to promote innovation, technology development and access to global opportunities in the clean technology, energy, food, logistics, manufacturing and water industries. www.globalmidwestalliance.org
Member of
AGENDA
October 28, 2026
Welcome Reception Hosted by Polsinelli
150 N. Riverside Plaza, Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60606
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Fireside Chat with Haven Allen, Chief Executive Officer, mHUB
Interviewed by Laurence Hayward, Founding Partner, ATOMS.VC
Building the infrastructure for hardtech innovation to thrive takes more than lab space. It takes test beds, pilot opportunities and real connections into industry, which is exactly what mHUB's recent Grainger-backed innovation challenge is working to solve for urban manufacturing. Haven will be interviewed by Laurence Hayward, a venture capitalist who invests in hard- and deep-tech companies like those found at mHub. Their discussion will be focused on what it takes to build that capacity, and how bringing startups, manufacturers, researchers and investors together in one ecosystem drives innovation forward.
AGENDA
October 29, 2026
11th Midwest Corporate Venturing Program
Program Hosted by K&L Gates
70 West Madison Street, Chicago, IL 60602
Registration, Breakfast and Networking
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Christopher Bloom, Senior Of Counsel, K&L Gates
Keynote Presentation and Fireside Chat
Coffee and Networking Break
Innovation and Technology Panel
Sponsored by Polsinelli
Introduction: Anthony Nasharr, Shareholder, Polsinelli
Moderator: Daniel Radomski, Chief Executive Officer, Centrepolis Accelerator
Centrepolis Accelerator, a Detroit-based, nationally-recognized hub for manufacturing innovation and advanced technology development bringing new regional energy and perspective to the conversation. Centrepolis is on a mission to fuel the growth of Southeast Michigan's small manufacturers and hardware entrepreneurs. They offer hardtech startups and small-to-medium-sized manufacturers access to product development services and tailored funding solutions, with a strong commitment to supply chain resiliency. Just this past February, Centrepolis secured $6 million for their Defense Hardtech Accelerator to bolster Michigan's defense industrial base and reduce reliance on foreign-sourced materials, made possible through a CRADA with the U.S. Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center.
Panelists:
Richard Phamdo, Founder and CEO, Voltaic Marine
Voltaic Marine is a Traverse City, Michigan-based startup that designs and builds high-performance electric boat platforms for recreational, commercial, and defense applications. Its flagship model, the AEW24, is a 24-foot aluminum-hulled electric watersports boat with an 8.5-foot beam, an 18-person capacity, and a towable weight under 10,000 pounds, built around a proprietary electric propulsion architecture combining high-output electric motors and large-format battery packs. The company debuted the boat at CES 2026 and is partnering with Detroit-based manufacturer Detroit Manufacturing Systems and its Kinetyc division to ramp up full-scale commercial production.
Michael Van Steenburg, Founder and CEO, Modal Motors
Modal Motors is a Farmington Hills, Michigan based electric motor manufacturer building high-torque density, high-efficiency motors for e-mobility, drone propulsion, industrial robotics, and defense applications. Established in 2024, Modal is commercializing patent-pending motor technology designed to eliminate reliance on Chinese rare-earth magnets and complex global supply chains. The company offers both non-rare-earth and rare-earth product lines, each built entirely on domestically sourced magnets, supporting the push to close gaps in the U.S. defense and industrial supply chain. Modal closed an initial $2 million seed round in October 2025 to move from prototyping into full-scale U.S. manufacturing and is actively raising its next round of funding.
Amrit Vivekanand, CEO, Marel Power Solutions
Marel Power Solutions is a Plymouth, Michigan-based company that builds super-dense power conversion blocks for high-performance power converters, transforming electrification across mobility, data centers, renewables, and defense. Density matters particularly for defense, where MAREL is working with the Army on next generation inverters, backed by a 2026 federal defense appropriation. MAREL's tech enables longer mission profiles, including silent watch, and cuts reliance on transported fuel and generators, meaning less risk to personnel and simpler logistics in the field. The same technology applies to data centers, where power density is becoming just as critical. The company has earned several industry accolades and grants, including a DOE SBIR grant and recognition as a Best Growth Stage Company in 2025.
Coffee and Networking Break
Corporate Venturing Panel
Closing Remarks
Christopher Bloom, Senior of Counsel, K&L Gates
5:30 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
7:30 a.m.
7:55 a.m.
8:00 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
9:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
12:00 p.m.
The 2026 Corporate Venturing Advisory Committee
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Sponsor
Sponsor
"The fireside chats gave me a rare, candid look at how corporate VCs actually approach their investments. I left with insights I put to work immediately."
Director of Innovation, Regional Manufacturer
"As a scientist, I had little exposure to how corporate venture capital really works. Hearing directly from CVC leaders made the whole field click for me."
Research Lead, Life Sciences Startup
"This was the best innovation panel I've seen at any CVC conference, with strong presenters and a genuinely interesting mix of companies. Worth the trip every year."
Managing Partner, Early-Stage Fund
