Next Frontier Capital was founded explicitly to "bring venture capital to the frontier" by relocating from the Bay Area to Bozeman, with the mission of building a venture ecosystem in Montana and the wider Mountain West rather than operating as a satellite office of a coastal fund. The firm has played a catalytic role in transforming Montana from a state with roughly $3M of annual venture funding in 2014 into a "venture engine" and is frequently cited in national media as emblematic of the broader movement of venture capital "leaving the coasts" to fund inland startups.