Investor profile
LongJump
Micro-fund
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Analyse your fitInvestment thesis
LongJump is a first-check, founder-led venture fund based in Chicago, designed to invest in the next generation of founders. The fund writes checks of ~$110K at the earliest stages — functioning as a 'friends and family' round substitute — to help turn ambitious ideas into high-growth, scalable businesses. LongJump is industry-agnostic and focuses on founders based in the Midwest (with a strong bias toward Chicago), explicitly targeting underrepresented founders of all backgrounds, races, genders, and socio-economic conditions. Beyond capital, LongJump provides connections and community through a network of 190+ founder and operator LPs. The fund accepts open applications (no referral required) and is led entirely by active startup founders and operators who have been through the same journey as their portfolio companies.
Notable quotes
“"The problems that our founders face are ones that we probably currently face to some extent. It allows us to relate to those founders on a different level than honestly most investors can."”
“"Most investors want to back diverse founders and companies with unconventional ideas. But, unfortunately, a lot of those investors are looking at companies that have, kind of, moved past this early, very formative stage."”
“"Despite my prior experience in venture, I had never seen a firm so authentically centered on the founder."”
Team
Tim Grace
Managing Director / General Partner
Ablorde Ashigbi
General Partner
Kristen Sonday
General Partner
Brian Luerssen
General Partner
Garry Cooper
General Partner
Recent investments
| Company | Round | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rise Reforming | Seed | — | 2025-12-16 |
| Eventnoire | Seed | — | 2025-05-14 |
| FreshX | Seed | — | 2024-05-01 |
| Grapefruit Health | Seed | — | — |
| Blip Energy | Seed | — | — |
| GridLink | Seed | — | — |
| Avant Health | Seed | — | — |
| AEGIS | Seed | — | — |
| Gatherset | Seed | — | — |
| Bottlecode | Seed | $100k | — |
Frequent co-investors
| VC firm | Deals together |
|---|---|
| Techstars | 2 |
| Antler | 1 |
| XRC Ventures | 1 |
| Hyde Park Venture Partners | 1 |
| Pear VC | 1 |
| Redbud VC | 1 |
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