Investor profile
Chicago Ventures
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Analyse your fitInvestment thesis
Chicago Ventures believes enduring companies can be built anywhere, by anyone. The firm leads early seed rounds before it's obvious, serving as active, operationally-involved partners during a company's earliest days. As stated on their website: 'We're the early partner to Founders in industries overlooked by others. We write high conviction checks. We take board seats. We're a Founder's biggest advocate while being straight shooters.' Their focus spans supply chain, logistics, healthcare, fintech, enterprise tools, consumer media, data management, proptech, and small business tools — with a deliberate emphasis on backing teams outside traditional coastal tech hubs, particularly in Chicago and the Greater Midwest.
Notable quotes
“Our thesis at Chicago Ventures was there's a bunch of great early stage tech companies in Chicago, a bunch of great Founders — there's just not enough early stage capital. The valley doesn't care until you get to a later stage, so you're usually taking that first step, which is arguably the hardest one.”
“Thrilled to announce Chicago Ventures Fund IV! With $80M in new capital, we're excited to continue backing ambitious early-stage startups. If you're building something extraordinary, reach out — we'd love to chat!”
“Fund III represents a continued deep commitment to filling the most severe gaps in early stage venture capital. Without the continued support of our investors, the opportunity to enable the next generation of overlooked teams wouldn't exist.”
Recent investments
| Company | Round | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| G2 | Seed | — | 2014-01-01 |
| project44 | Seed | — | 2016-01-01 |
| AeroPay | Series B | $20m | 2024-05-16 |
| Cameo | Seed | — | 2017-01-01 |
| SpotHero | Series A | — | 2014-01-01 |
| Sunbit | Seed | — | 2017-01-01 |
| Kin Insurance | Seed | — | 2017-01-01 |
| FranShares | Seed | $4m | 2024-07-01 |
| NOCD | Seed | — | 2021-01-01 |
| Intelligent Legal Solutions | Seed | $3m | 2026-03-26 |
Frequent co-investors
| VC firm | Deals together |
|---|---|
| Hyde Park Venture Partners | 6 |
| Lightbank | 5 |
| M25 | 4 |
| Jump Capital | 3 |
| Bessemer Venture Partners | 2 |
| Ironspring Ventures | 2 |
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