What is Thimbleberry?
It's not just a tagline, let's break this down.Nanocapital: Nano-scale investments from $1-10k. Our focus is on networking and offering support over pure capital.Good: Founders looking to improve this region the people who live here, in terms of wellness, access, and getting outdoors.Great Lakes Region: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and some adjacent areas.Our vision is to build up a network of mutually supportive independent companies that push the Great Lakes region forward, with a focus on the outdoors, health science, and mobility technology.We invest in regional companies in these spaces, and seek to support founding teams, providing guidance in product development, engineering, manufacturing, and outsourcing.Thimbleberry LLC is registered in Wisconsin.
Investments
Circular Solutions Enterprise Team
From 2023-2024, Thimbleberry sponsored Michigan Tech's Circular Solutions Enterprise Team to research sustainable textile technologies within the circular bioeconomy space. The focus of this project was to develop a process to convert fabric material waste and scrap into thread to be used for new textile production.Updates:
We've completed our first year of research with MTU's Circular Solutions Enterprise team, and look forward to future collaboration. [Apr 2024]
Great Lakes Coastal
Great Lakes Coastal is a wholly-owned brand of Thimbleberry, and is the foremost Great Lakes beachwear brand. GLC pioneered the original Great Lakes Beach Shirt, and celebrates the unique lake life that can only be found in this region.
Team
Neil Hawke, Founder and Managing Partner
Neil founded Thimbleberry in 2023 to provide nano-scale investments and support key development in regional industry. A serial entrepreneur who made several forays into the outdoor industry, Neil felt his best path to supporting growth in this sector is to support existing founders and add value based on his experience.Neil lives as an expat in Hong Kong, maintains close ties to the Great Lakes, and has experience in product development, production, outsourcing, and global supply chain.He holds a BSEM and MBA from Michigan Technological University, is a Project Management Professional, sits on MTU's Engineering and Supply Chain Management Industry Advisory Board, and enjoys sailing, skiing, dragon boat, and Muay Thai in his free time.Connect with Neil on LinkedIn:
