Chicago Ventures launched in 2012 with support from Chicago’s leading entrepreneurs and investors.
They noticed that Chicago and the central region of the country had many of the ingredients of successful startup communities: dedication to building sustainable businesses, strong quality of life and low cost of living, close proximity to over a third of all Fortune 500 companies, and top-notch university systems — missing, though, was access to smart, connected, experienced capital.
That’s why we’re here.
We understand that entrepreneurs need varying levels of guidance from their investors. First and foremost, we strive to connect with our entrepreneurs as people. When it comes to building companies, we aren’t shy. We tap every part of our operator backgrounds and network of entrepreneur partners, customers, talent, and later-stage investors to help our companies succeed.
[We encourage chatting with our portfolio companies directly to hear more!]
Investment focus
We invest in tech-enabled enterprise and consumer businesses — with investments in analytics, B2B2C, sales and marketing SaaS, payments/loyalty, healthcare IT, and marketplace/on-demand services.
We’re committed to supporting our companies during their early growth. In fact, we have the highest follow-on rate for all micro VCs outside of the coasts.
-
Rob Chesney Partner
-
Peter Christman Principal
-
Steven Cook Analyst
-
Lindsay Knight Director of Platform
-
Stuart Larkins Partner
-
Cara Morphew Associate
-
Kevin Willer Partner
-
Godard Abel SVP and GM (previously CEO) SteelBrick; Co-Founder/Chairman, G2 Crowd // Chicago Ventures EP
Godard Abel -
Jason Duboe Advisor
Jason Duboe -
Bob Fealy Founding Managing Director, Limerick Investments // Chicago Ventures Advisor
Bob Fealy -
Chris Hill Founder, Spotlite // Chicago Ventures EP
Chris Hill -
Brett Hurt CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, DATA.WORLD // CHICAGO VENTURES EP
Brett Hurt -
Eric Lunt Director of Engineering, VSCO // Chicago Ventures EP
Eric Lunt -
Pat Ryan Jr. Chairman, Chicago Ventures; Founder and CEO of INCISENT Labs Group
Pat Ryan Jr. -
Jai Shekhawat Former CEO and Co-Founder, Fieldglass // Chicago Ventures EP
Jai Shekhawat -
Brian Spaly Chicago Ventures EP | Executive Chairman at Tecovas
Brian Spaly -
Sam Yagan CEO, ShopRunner // Chicago Ventures EP
Sam Yagan