Fundraising Fox

Poplar Ventures

Venture capital

Seed–Growth · 8 people tracked

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Investment thesis

Poplar Ventures believes compelling technology companies can emerge anywhere and focuses on building software businesses in middle America. The firm invests in early growth stage companies where they can add value, preferring entrepreneurs with humble, hungry, and competitive roots. They emphasize treating each company on its own merits and value founders who are well-grounded, with investment stages spanning seed through growth across private, institutional, and corporate ventures.

Source: firm website, verified Jul 21, 2026.

Stage
Seed–Growth
Instruments
Equity
Founded
2007
Tracked investments
8

Team · 8 people

from the firm's website
John H. Willmoth· Founder and Managing Partner

Investment professional with over 30 years of corporate development and investment experience, including senior executive roles at Nextel and service on multiple corporate boards. Has made numerous venture investments across seed, early, and growth stages.

Chris Joseph· Investment Advisory Partner

Joseph is chairman of YuzeData and a three-time successful entrepreneur with experience leading global software platforms and serving on multiple private equity-backed boards.

Chris Schremser· Investment Advisory Partner

Schremser is CTO of Waystar and previously held the same role at Zirmed for two decades, with expertise in architecting technology platforms in complex regulatory environments.

Doug Smith· Investment Advisory Partner

Smith is a senior Microsoft executive specializing in customer cloud transformation, with experience in AI, data center modernization, IoT, cloud application development, and DevOps.

Greg Langdon· Investment Advisory Partner

Langdon is an experienced technology executive with expertise in corporate and product strategy, and has served as an advisor and mentor to over 100 companies across three accelerator programs.

Jim Lacy· Investment Advisory Partner

Lacy is an operating partner at New Mountain Capital with extensive experience as a CFO, general counsel, M&A executive, and product-focused leader in high-growth enterprise companies.

Michael Davis· Investment Advisory Partner

Davis is co-founder and executive chairman of Appriss, a two-time Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner and 2019 inductee to the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

Vik Chadha· Investment Advisory Partner

Chadha is founder and CEO of Scalable Ventures and co-founder of GlowTouch Technologies and Backupify, with direct experience investing in and creating innovative software products.

Investments · 8 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path
E-commerce Inventory and Warehouse Management System

Inventory and warehouse management system for e-commerce, acquired by Linnworks in 2022.

E-commerce Inventory Management Company

Inventory and warehouse management system for e-commerce, acquired by Linnworks in 2022

Enterprise Marketing Software Company

Integrated enterprise marketing software, acquired by Teradata in 2011

Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management Company

Healthcare revenue cycle management software, acquired by Bain Capital in 2017

Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management Software

Healthcare revenue cycle management software, acquired by Bain Capital in 2017.

Integrated Enterprise Marketing Software

Integrated enterprise marketing software, acquired by Teradata in 2011.

ServiceNow Ecosystem Company

In-platform automated operational reporting for the ServiceNow ecosystem.

Software Testing and QA Tools Company

Software testing and QA tools, acquired by Insight Venture Partners in 2017.

Frequently asked questions

What stage does Poplar Ventures invest at?
Poplar Ventures invests at the Seed, Series A, Growth stages.
What sectors does Poplar Ventures focus on?
Poplar Ventures focuses on Cloud Computing, SaaS.

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