Northern Dealbook — InsightsIndependent coverage of private equity and venture capital across Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota — a searchable directory of regional funds, a running record of deals, and practical guidance for founders and fund managers.https://www.northerndealbook.com/Minnesota's Angel Tax Credit Has Expired — and the State's Own Page Still Describes It in the Present Tensehttps://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/minnesota-angel-tax-credit-expired/https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/minnesota-angel-tax-credit-expired/The statute sunset for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. The Department of Revenue's guidance page, updated in December 2025, carries no expiration notice. Here is what actually survives.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTMinnesota Voided Employee Non-Competes. Deals Still Work — but Retention Doesn't.https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/minnesota-noncompete-ban-deal-diligence/https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/minnesota-noncompete-ban-deal-diligence/Minn. Stat. § 181.988 makes employee non-competes void, blocks the choice-of-law workaround, and awards fees to employees. The sale-of-business exception survives intact. For a buyer, that combination changes what you are actually acquiring.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTNorth Dakota Pays the Mosthttps://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/north-dakota-pays-the-most/https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/north-dakota-pays-the-most/A 45 percent seed capital credit and a 35 percent angel fund credit make North Dakota the most generous of the four states for early-stage investors — by a wide margin, and with the smallest economy behind it.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTQSBS After the 2025 Overhaul — and Why the Exclusion List Bites Harder Herehttps://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/qsbs-after-the-2025-overhaul/https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/qsbs-after-the-2025-overhaul/Section 1202 got its biggest expansion in fifteen years: a tiered holding period, a $15 million cap, and a $75 million asset test. But the list of businesses that cannot qualify maps uncomfortably well onto the Upper Midwest economy.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe SEC Made Public Fundraising Practical for Small Funds — If Your Minimum Is $200,000https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/reg-d-506b-506c-regional-funds/https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/reg-d-506b-506c-regional-funds/A March 2025 no-action letter lets issuers satisfy Rule 506(c)'s verification requirement through minimum investment amounts and self-certification. For a regional fund choosing between 506(b) and 506(c), that changes the answer.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTSouth Dakota Can't Offer an Angel Tax Credit. So It Writes Checks Instead.https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/south-dakota-writes-checks-instead/https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/south-dakota-writes-checks-instead/With no personal or corporate income tax, South Dakota has nothing for an investment credit to offset. Its early-stage capital policy is direct lending rather than tax expenditure — a genuinely different instrument with different consequences.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTWisconsin Kept Its Angel Credit. Minnesota Didn't.https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/wisconsin-kept-its-angel-credit/https://www.northerndealbook.com/insights/wisconsin-kept-its-angel-credit/Wisconsin's 25 percent angel investment credit carries no sunset and is live for the 2025 tax year. Minnesota's expired after 2024. For anyone raising on either side of the St. Croix, that asymmetry is now a structuring fact.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT