Growing Plains: North Dakota’s $100M fund fuels Fargo’s burgeoning AI ecosystem

Fargo, North Dakota is emerging as an unexpected AI innovation hub, driven by a collaborative community culture and strategic state investment programs. The city’s tech ecosystem includes startups like Walkwise, which uses AI to predict health risks for seniors, alongside established players like Sanford Health and growing support from accelerators and national events that are drawing attention beyond the Midwest.

What you should know: Fargo’s AI ecosystem is built on community collaboration rather than traditional Silicon Valley competition models.

• Peter Chamberlain, an MIT graduate and CEO of Fargo-based Walkwise, attributes this to harsh winters that create “a culture of community where neighbors have to help each other.”
• This collaborative mindset “trickles into entrepreneurship where all these founders kind of ‘have each other’s back,'” according to Chamberlain.
• The approach contrasts sharply with the more isolated tech development happening in traditional hubs like California.

How Walkwise’s AI works: The company uses continuous data monitoring to predict adverse health events in high-risk seniors through pattern recognition.

• The system considers multiple factors: someone with congestive heart failure having “more than two 4-hour inactivity periods in a day” creates a “60% chance of ending up in the hospital.”
• Another example involves analyzing whether a 40% drop in activity over two days becomes concerning when combined with local respiratory virus outbreaks, recent COPD diagnosis, and typical weekly mobility patterns.
• “Non-intrusive data on high-risk seniors must be collected continuously and compared to the model, essentially ‘prompting’ the model to determine if the current, real-time behavior has a high likelihood of leading to an adverse health event,” Chamberlain explained.

Strategic advantages: Fargo offers unique resources that support AI development beyond typical startup benefits.

• Sanford Health, the largest rural healthcare provider in the United States, provides Walkwise access to broader testing populations.
• The infrastructure development represents “deliberate building of AI infrastructure” in previously overlooked regions, rather than just lower costs or easier recruitment.
• Events like Chipp Con and Grand Farm’s Elevate: An AI in Agriculture Summit are drawing startups, investors, and thought leaders nationally.

State investment backing: North Dakota has created substantial financial infrastructure to support AI and tech innovation.

• The North Dakota Growth Fund, established in 2021 with $100 million managed by 50 South Capital, targets venture capital, private equity, and growth opportunities connected to the state.
• State Representative Mike Nathe, who sponsored the LIFT and In-State Investment programs, emphasized creating “an environment where entrepreneurs have the tools they need to build and grow.”
• The ND Legacy Fund, built from oil and gas revenues, supports AI infrastructure development alongside the state’s energy sector positioning.

What they’re saying: Leadership sees energy resources as a competitive advantage for AI infrastructure.

• “With our all-of-the-above energy approach and nation-leading efforts in carbon capture, utilization and storage, we are well-positioned to support data centers and other energy-intensive industries with environmental stewardship while attracting high-paying jobs and diversifying our economy,” Governor Doug Burgum said regarding data center development.
• Startup accelerator gener8tor has also engaged with the community, signaling growing national recognition of the region’s potential.

Why this matters: The Fargo model demonstrates how AI innovation can thrive outside traditional tech centers through community collaboration and strategic state investment, potentially offering a blueprint for other regions seeking to build competitive AI ecosystems.