Next Level Ventures
Next Level Ventures is a Des Moines venture firm, the largest in Iowa, backing early-stage fintech, ag tech, and bioscience startups. Its one water bet is Gross-Wen Technologies, an Iowa company that strips nutrients from wastewater using algae. As of 2026, Leviathan tracks one water company across two deals and rates its water commitment Occasional.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
As of 2025, Next Level Ventures has announced a first close of its third Iowa fund, NLV Fund III, a vehicle targeting roughly $40 to $50 million for ag tech and bioscience startups and its fifth fund overall. The firm exists to keep venture money inside Iowa rather than ship the state's best founders to the coasts. Founder and Managing Partner Craig Ibsen, a former Maytag executive, started it in 2014 and has built it into the largest venture firm in the state.
Next Level Ventures is a generalist by Iowa's measure, not a water fund. It backs fintech and credit-union technology through its Curql partnership, alongside ag tech, bioscience, and manufacturing companies, usually writing cheques from half a million to a few million dollars at seed and Series A. Water has never been a thesis here; it arrives through the agriculture and bioscience door.
Next Level Ventures' single tracked water company is Gross-Wen Technologies, a Slater, Iowa outfit spun out of Iowa State University by the scientists Martin Gross and Zhiyou Wen. Gross-Wen grows algae on slowly rotating belts that pull nitrogen and phosphorus out of municipal and industrial wastewater, then harvests the algae as a fertilizer. For a fund rooted in Iowa agriculture, a company that turns farm-country nutrient runoff into a crop input is a natural fit, not a detour.
Next Level Ventures is not a water specialist, and the numbers say so plainly. Leviathan tracks one water company across two deals, the firm has not led either round, and it rates the water commitment Occasional. Expect any future water bet to look like Gross-Wen: an ag tech or bioscience company where cleaning water is the byproduct of a bigger Iowa thesis.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 1 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Next Level Ventures invest in?
- Next Level Ventures is a Des Moines generalist venture firm backing early-stage Iowa companies in fintech and credit-union technology, ag tech, bioscience, and manufacturing, usually at seed and Series A with cheques from about half a million to several million dollars. Within water, Leviathan tracks a single company, the algae-wastewater firm Gross-Wen Technologies.
- Is Next Level Ventures a water-focused fund?
- Next Level Ventures is not a water-focused fund. It is a broad early-stage Iowa investor, and water appears only through its ag tech and bioscience work. Leviathan tracks one water company, Gross-Wen Technologies, across two deals and rates the firm's water commitment Occasional rather than a dedicated water strategy.
- Who runs Next Level Ventures?
- Next Level Ventures was founded in 2014 by Craig Ibsen, a former Maytag executive who remains Founder and Managing Partner. Its partner bench includes Duane Harris, a former Iowa State professor and private-equity investor, ex-Workiva technology leader Dave Tucker, Michael Perrin, and Liz Keehner, who manages the firm's third Iowa fund.
- Where is Next Level Ventures based?
- Next Level Ventures is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and invests almost entirely in Iowa-based startups. It was built to keep venture capital in the state rather than concentrate it in coastal hubs, and several of its funds are certified Iowa Innovation Funds eligible for the state tax credit.
- Is this Next Level Ventures the same as other firms with that name?
- No. Several unrelated firms worldwide use the name Next Level Ventures. The one Leviathan tracks here is the Des Moines, Iowa venture firm founded in 2014 by Craig Ibsen, focused on Iowa startups, whose lone water investment is Gross-Wen Technologies.