myvcjourney

Chicago · Field guide · Updated

Chicago VC & Startup Resources

The people, programs, investors, spaces and reading worth knowing if you're new to the city, new to VC, or building something here.

Last updated October 29, 2026 · 177 resources

Prefer a PDF? Read the edition co-authored with LongJump. An extended edition, with my AI tools and UChicago newsletters, is coming soon on Substack.

Chicago VC firms by stage

81local firms. Click a tier to jump to it.

177 resources · 23 people · 21 books · compiled by Fiona Chen

A note from Fiona

Welcome to Chicago! If you’re new to the area or interested in diving into the world of venture capital (VC) and startups, hi, I’m Fiona Chen, a 2nd year at University of Chicago Booth School of Business with a goal of running my own VC firm one day. Like many of you, I’m relatively new to Chicago and VC. Prior to Booth, I was in management consulting for a decade and had a brief stint as a startup co-founder.

At LongJump, we have the privilege of working alongside brilliant ecosystem partners and a front row seat in many pre-seed founders’ journeys. Additionally, for the past year, I’ve interviewed dozens of VC leaders and startup founders across multiple stages and industries - here’s a running list of resources LongJump has earmarked over the years, as well as what I’ve personally found helpful or that have been recommended to me by my interviewees.

We hope this guide helps accelerate your inevitable trajectory towards success.

Please note: for those of you who have seen my original co-authored guide with LongJump, this version of the guide is an extension of the original with a dedicated list of AI tools I’ve been using as an investor, and also a list of UChicago newsletters I’ve found helpful.

Compiled by Fiona Chen

Where are you starting?

Featured

Founder incubator

1871

Chicago's flagship tech incubator in the Merchandise Mart

Corporate venture collaborative

TechNexus

The Loop-based venture collaborative that pairs corporates with startups

From the ground

Full index · 177 resources

Meetups

  • 1Million Cups - Kauffman Foundation's national program built around founders presenting their business to the local community over coffee Sectors: general.
  • Claude Community - Chicago meetups for people building with Claude; builders, founders and the curious Sectors: general.
  • F*ck Up Nights Chicago - The global series where founders tell the story of a failure on stage; the most honest startup event in the city Sectors: general.
  • Grassroots Tech Community - An IRL community of Chicagoland tech enthusiasts with monthly meetups and panels; a good first room for anyone new to the scene Sectors: general.
  • Startup Grind Chicago - Teaches and connects founders, and free membership gets you the newsletter and member perks Sectors: general.

Co-working

  • Fabrik - Member-run co-working at 440 N Wells in River North, with hot desks, conference rooms by the hour and member-hosted events Sectors: general. Neighborhood: River North.
  • Ferris & Co - New co-working space located at 1 W Monroe St with dozens of desks, conference rooms, dry erase boards, and more Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Polsky Exchange - Polsky Center's coworking space and community incubator on 53rd Street in Hyde Park. With flexible coworking, huddle and conference rooms, classrooms, event space, and the Fab Lab, the only entrepreneurship-focused fabrication lab on the South Side Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Hyde Park.
  • TechNexus - The Loop-based venture collaborative that pairs corporates with startups; co-working, events and an active investing arm under one roof Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Loop.

Newsletters

  • CHI IRL - Chicago's weekly calendar of tech and startup events, from meetups to conferences to workshops Sectors: general.
  • Chicago Startup Events - Curated, founder-focused Chicago events calendar with a free "Weekly Roundup" email that goes out every Monday morning Sectors: general.
  • Ilya Strebulaev's "VC 101: Investor Decision Making" - The Stanford GSB professor's Substack series breaking down how investors actually make decisions; the newsletter companion to The Venture Mindset Sectors: general.
  • Landon's Loop - Landon Campbell's (Drive Capital) newsletter on Chicago and Midwest venture, written by someone actively investing here Sectors: general.
  • Midwest Startups - Weekly roundup of funding rounds, launches and hires across the Midwest; the fastest way to learn who's raising in the region Sectors: general.
  • Pitchbook News - The data provider's free daily newsletter on deals, exits and market trends; the numbers everyone quotes come from here Sectors: general.
  • Tactical Fundraising by Elizabeth Yin - Mechanics of early-stage fundraising from the investor's side of the table and how to think about different types of funding for an early-stage startup, whether to use a SAFE, etc. Sectors: general.
  • Venture Capital Journal Daily - Daily industry news on fundraising, fund closes and LP activity, from the Private Equity International family Sectors: general.
  • Alumni Engagement - Booth's alumni newsletter: events, reunions and ways to plug into the alumni network Sectors: general.
  • Center for Applied AI - Booth's AI research center; talks and research relevant to anyone evaluating AI startups Sectors: ai.
  • Polsky Center - The entrepreneurship center's digest of programs, competitions, office hours and startup news Sectors: general.
  • Rustandy Center - Booth's center for social sector innovation; impact investing and social enterprise programming Sectors: social-impact.
  • UChicago Alumni - University-wide alumni news and events Sectors: general.
  • UChicago Grad Guide Weekly - The weekly digest of graduate student life, deadlines and campus resources Sectors: general.
  • UChicago News - The university's news service, including research with commercial potential Sectors: general.
  • The University of Chicago - The university's general newsletter Sectors: general.

Ecosystem partners

  • Chicago Innovation - Runs the annual Chicago Innovation Awards and year-round programs celebrating and connecting innovators Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Lincoln Park.
  • Illinois INVENT - The State of Illinois's direct equity program, funded through the U.S. Treasury's SSBCI initiative, providing growth capital to Illinois startups Sectors: general.
  • Illinois Venture Capital Association (IVCA) - The state's trade association for VC and PE; events, awards and the local push behind VC University Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • P33 - Nonprofit launched to make Chicago a top-tier tech hub; talent, deep tech and ecosystem-building initiatives Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • World Business Chicago - The city's public-private economic development agency; corporate attraction, startup support and The Raise partner Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Loop.

Incubators & ESOs

  • 1871 - Chicago's flagship tech incubator in the Merchandise Mart; programs for founders at every stage, plus the center of gravity for the city's startup events Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Merchandise Mart.
  • 2112 - Incubator for music, film, fashion and creative industry startups Sectors: creative. Neighborhood: Irving Park.
  • The Garage at Northwestern - Northwestern's student and alumni startup hub in Evanston (TIME's No. 1 university startup incubator); 1,500+ startups and $1.6B+ raised over 11 years. Programs: Jumpstart, Residency, open community events Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Evanston.
  • Hatchery - Food and beverage incubator in East Garfield Park with shared commercial kitchens and business support Sectors: food-cpg. Neighborhood: East Garfield Park.
  • Matter - Healthcare technology incubator connecting startups with health systems, payers and pharma Sectors: healthcare. Neighborhood: Merchandise Mart.
  • mHub - Hardtech and manufacturing innovation center with prototyping labs, programs and a fund for physical-product startups Sectors: hardtech. Neighborhood: Near West Side.
  • Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (UChicago) - The university's entrepreneurship hub; the NVC, Polsky Exchange co-working, deep tech ventures and the PE/VC Lab all live here Sectors: deep-tech. Neighborhood: Hyde Park.

More

  • Bullish on Chicago (Landon Campbell) - Extremely extensive list of hundreds of resources across VC, startups, ecosystem partners, and various sectors in Chicago Sectors: general.
  • Techicago - Great list of additional events to bookmark during TechChicago Week Sectors: general.

Programs

  • Chicago:Blend Venture Fellowship - A structured, immersive fellowship built to help emerging professionals break into VC, with placements at Chicago funds Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Illinois Venture Capital Association (IVCA) - The state's industry association; promotes VC University cohorts locally and runs events worth having on your radar Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Hustle Fund Venture Fellowship - Virtual, for aspiring VCs, fund managers and angels, working the Hustle Fund team's live deal pipeline Sectors: general.
  • Kauffman Fellows - Two years, aimed at mid-career investors (mostly GPs, partners and principals) Sectors: general.
  • Laconia Venture Cooperative - A part-time program where you learn by doing diligence alongside the Laconia team; another one I did myself Sectors: general.
  • Toigo LIFE Program (Venture Capital Intensive) - Toigo's one-year program for graduate students headed into finance, with a VC-specific track: technical training, practitioner-led sector deep dives, one-on-one hiring coaching and access to Toigo's firm network. I completed this last year and it was very informative Sectors: general.
  • VC Lab (Decile Group) - The free accelerator for people launching a first fund; relevant if you're thinking about emerging management Sectors: general.
  • VC University (Venture Forward, NVCA, Berkeley Law and Stanford Law) - A 10-week virtual certificate course that gives a structured, practical foundation in venture capital. Venture Forward (NVCA's nonprofit foundation) has awarded full scholarships to at least 10% of each cohort since 2019 for aspiring and early-career VCs from underrepresented backgrounds Sectors: general.
  • VC University Bootcamp - The intensive four-day in-person version at Stanford for advanced investment professionals Sectors: general.
  • Venture Deals course (Techstars) - The free online companion to the book; a good first step before paying for VC University Sectors: general.

Job boards

  • Firm-run portfolio boards - A16z, Index, General Catalyst and, locally, Lofty Ventures, Chicago Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners and Drive Capital all run boards for their portfolio companies Sectors: general.
  • John Gannon's Venture5 - The long-running one; still the most-forwarded VC job list Sectors: general.
  • NVCA Careers in VC - The National Venture Capital Association's own board; every posting is reviewed by NVCA, so it stays low-noise Sectors: general.
  • Startup&VC - VC roles by city, updated weekly, plus a talent collective Sectors: general.
  • Venture Capital Careers - The largest board dedicated specifically to VC, from analyst through partner-track roles, with a Chicago filter and free email alerts Sectors: general.
  • Venture Forward Job Board - Investing roles only (analyst through partner, plus fellowships and internships) at U.S. VC firms and corporate venture arms; postings roll off after 30 days and are also shared in the Venture Forward newsletter and the VC University Slack Sectors: general.
  • Wellfound - Startup roles with a Chicago filter Sectors: general.

Podcasts

  • The a16z Show - Andreessen Horowitz's flagship show on tech, markets and the firm's theses Sectors: general.
  • Acquired - Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal's multi-hour deep dives on how great companies were built; the most-recommended podcast in VC Sectors: general.
  • Acquiring Minds - Will Smith's interviews with people who bought small businesses; the entrepreneurship-through-acquisition (ETA) path Sectors: general.
  • Business Breakdowns - Colossus's one-company-per-episode breakdowns of business models and competitive dynamics Sectors: general.
  • The Full Ratchet - Nick Moran's "Venture Capital and Startup Investing Demystified," podcast; it's one of the longest-running VC interview shows Sectors: general.
  • How I Built This with Guy Raz - Founder origin stories told in narrative form; the gateway podcast for entrepreneurship Sectors: general.
  • Moonshots with Peter Diamandis - Exponential technology and the long view on what's coming Sectors: general.
  • Possible with Reid Hoffman - The LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner on optimistic futures with technology Sectors: general.
  • Think Like an Owner - Alex Bridgeman's conversations with operators and investors in small and mid-sized businesses Sectors: general.
  • This Week in Startups - Jason Calacanis's long-running show on startup news and founder interviews Sectors: general.
  • Venture Unlocked - Samir Kaji's interviews with fund managers and LPs on how venture firms are built; required listening if you want to raise a fund someday Sectors: general.
  • Vital Dawn - Adam Crisafulli's short daily briefing on financial news and how markets may react Sectors: general.

Chicago VC firms by stage

  • Chingona Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Samara Mejia Hernandez's pre-seed/seed fund backing overlooked founders in growth markets; fintech, future of work, edtech, healthtech, food and wellness; average check around $1M, 50+ investments, Career Karma among them Sectors: fintech, healthcare, b2b-software. Neighborhood: West Loop.
  • Fifth Star Funds (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - "America's first friends and family fund": a philanthropically backed pre-seed vehicle providing equitable access to friends-and-family-sized capital for underrepresented (primarily Black) Chicago founders, leaning B2B/SaaS Sectors: general. Neighborhood: West Loop.
  • Giant Step (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Deep-tech firm writing the earliest checks into aerospace and space startups building frontier hardware and infrastructure Sectors: deep-tech, hardtech, life-sciences.
  • Harper Court Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - UChicago-affiliated venture firm backing companies spinning out of university research and talent; AI, health, climate and B2B software Sectors: deep-tech, life-sciences, climate, ai. Neighborhood: Hyde Park.
  • Hyde Park Angels (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Chicago's largest angel group with an associated fund; pre-seed through early Series A across the Midwest, member-led diligence Sectors: general.
  • Illinois Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - UIUC-affiliated, research-based IT and life-science startups Sectors: deep-tech, life-sciences, ai, climate. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Lofty Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Christopher Deutsch's pre-seed-to-A firm for software and consumer tech; doubles as a community builder with a steady calendar of founder events Sectors: general.
  • LongJump (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - First-check fund run by Chicago founders and operators; writes roughly $110K into pre-seed rounds for Midwest founders with a strong Chicago bias, industry-agnostic with an emphasis on underrepresented teams. Runs The Raise, a six-session pre-seed fundraising program with World Business Chicago and the Coleman Foundation, where five of fifteen founders receive $10K non-dilutive grants Sectors: general.
  • mHUB Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - $200K first checks into hardtech companies admitted to the Energy Tech, MedTech and Sustainable Manufacturing accelerators; 60+ investments, second fund ($20M) raised in 2025 Sectors: hardtech, climate, healthcare. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Motivate Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Small Chicago pre-seed/seed fund, generalist B2B Sectors: fintech, b2b-software. Neighborhood: West Loop.
  • New Stack Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Nick Moran's pre-seed/seed fund for "remarkable founders outside the Valley," Heartland-anchored, heavy on B2B SaaS and devtools; Moran also hosts The Full Ratchet, one of the longer-running VC podcasts Sectors: ai, fintech, healthcare, hardtech.
  • Portal Innovations (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Life-sciences venture firm that pairs pre-seed/seed capital with wet-lab space in Fulton Market, for science companies spinning out of UChicago, Northwestern and UIC Sectors: life-sciences, healthcare. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Propellant Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Seed-stage firm across healthcare, future of work, supply chain, fintech and edtech Sectors: healthcare, b2b-software, fintech, hardtech.
  • Tawani Ventures (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - The venture arm of Tawani Enterprises (Pritzker family office); generalist early-stage checks with an explicit Chicago and diverse-founder focus Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Techstars Chicago / Long Chicago (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - The relaunched three-month accelerator ($220K for 5%, open to all sectors, next deadline November 18, 2026 for the spring 2027 class) paired with Long Chicago, a new Midwest-focused venture fund; mentors include Troy Henikoff, Guy Turner (HPVP) and Brian Luerssen (LongJump) Sectors: general.
  • Velocity Catalyst Fund (Pre-seed (first institutional check)) - Early-stage fund for Chicago and Illinois founders that also backs emerging fund managers; Desiree Vargas Wrigley is GP. Relevant twice over if you're thinking about raising a fund someday Sectors: social-impact. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • 11 Tribes Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Chicago seed fund with a values-driven founder-wellbeing thesis; fintech, food and consumer Sectors: b2b-software, consumer, ai. Neighborhood: Glen Ellyn.
  • 53 Stations (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Invests across healthcare, logistics, insurance and technology, with a preference for operationally important industries over hype cycles Sectors: b2b-software, fintech, healthcare.
  • Abundant Venture Partners (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Andrew Swinand's seed/A fund around healthy living, consumer and tech Sectors: healthcare.
  • Bridge Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Early-stage checks into healthtech, climate, social impact and B2B software, with an emphasis on durable relevance over fast flips Sectors: ai, deep-tech, hardtech.
  • Buoyant Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Amy Francetic's seed/Series A fund for climate-risk software Sectors: climate, ai, b2b-software, hardtech.
  • Capitalize VC (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Mark Thomann's fund for commerce enablement platforms and consumer brands; one of the investors at The Raise 2026 matchmaking day Sectors: b2b-software, creative, consumer.
  • Chicago Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - The city's flagship seed fund (formerly the I2A Fund); Midwest-first, B2B SaaS, marketplaces, fintech, logistics and digital health, with hands-on help on hiring, GTM and follow-on raises. Tock, Fooda, Cameo-era winners Sectors: b2b-software, fintech, healthcare, consumer. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • CMT Digital (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Venture arm of CMT Group backing crypto, blockchain and fintech from seed onward Sectors: web3, fintech.
  • Corazon Capital (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Seed fund from Sam Yagan (OkCupid, Match) and Steve Farsht; consumer, marketplaces and software with a strong Chicago bias Sectors: consumer, ai. Neighborhood: Merchandise Mart.
  • Decasonic (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Paul Hsu's venture and digital-assets fund at the intersection of blockchain and AI, across software, infrastructure and financial systems Sectors: ai, web3.
  • Energy Foundry (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Early-stage energy and cleantech fund seeded by Illinois utility settlement money; seed through B, with corporate pilot connections Sectors: climate, hardtech.
  • Evergreen Climate Innovations (formerly Clean Energy Trust) (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Nonprofit-backed early climate investor for the Midwest, often the first institutional check for cleantech Sectors: climate. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Hyde Park Venture Partners (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Seed/Series A for "mid-continent" B2B software and marketplaces, typically companies at $500K to $3M revenue raising a first institutional round; offices in Chicago and Indianapolis; G2, Avant, High Alpha, Terminus Sectors: ai, b2b-software. Neighborhood: River North.
  • InnovateHealth Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Healthcare-only seed fund launched in 2024 by Ellis and Nevin Ramanujan; first institutional checks of $250K to $1M into software and tech-enabled services that align payors and providers, explicitly avoiding biotech and FDA-approval devices. Co-hosts Chicago healthcare community events with MATTER Sectors: healthcare, b2b-software. Neighborhood: River North.
  • KGC Capital (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Family-office seed investor in Chicago fintech and healthcare Sectors: b2b-software, consumer, fintech.
  • M25 (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Midwest-only, the region's most active early-stage investor since 2015; data-driven scoring model, $250K to $1M checks, can lead; 178 investments, Fund 4 raised in 2023. Publishes the annual Midwest Startups city rankings and runs a large portfolio community Sectors: fintech, healthcare, b2b-software. Neighborhood: River North.
  • Nameless Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Seed and Series A for Midwest-based technology companies, with operator-informed support; B2B and B2C software, fintech, healthtech Sectors: healthcare, life-sciences, b2b-software.
  • Network Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Seed-stage B2B SaaS with Chicago roots Sectors: general. Neighborhood: River North.
  • OCA Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Jim Dugan's seed/Series A firm for fintech, healthtech, enterprise software and cybersecurity, US and Canada; led Sprout Social's A Sectors: b2b-software, consumer, fintech, healthcare. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Origin Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Seed to Series A in software, marketplaces and consumer for the "Digital Native economy"; 20+ years, GrubHub and Braintree early; Chicago plus Salt Lake City Sectors: ai, b2b-software, deep-tech, hardtech.
  • SNAK VC (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Early-stage specialist in marketplace startups: liquidity, network effects and efficient transactions in large markets Sectors: consumer, b2b-software.
  • Starting Line (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Ezra Galston's seed fund for software and consumer businesses in overlooked categories underserved by innovation Sectors: consumer. Neighborhood: West Loop.
  • Venture Forward Capital (formerly New Leaf Ventures) (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Entrepreneur-led VC firm backing vertical and applied AI founders; rebranded from New Leaf Ventures in 2026 Sectors: ai, b2b-software. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • West Loop Ventures (Seed (lead or co-lead, $500K to $3M)) - Fintech-focused seed fund Sectors: fintech, b2b-software.
  • 2Flo Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Healthcare venture studio and fund that creates companies as well as investing in them; digital health and B2B health software Sectors: healthcare, life-sciences, social-impact. Neighborhood: Merchandise Mart.
  • 7wire Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Digital health from Glen Tullman and Lee Shapiro (Allscripts, Livongo, Transcarent); seed through B Sectors: healthcare. Neighborhood: Magnificent Mile.
  • Barrel Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Early-stage food-ecosystem investor backing companies modernizing how food is produced, distributed and experienced Sectors: food-cpg, consumer, b2b-software, ai. Neighborhood: Evanston.
  • Bluestein Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Food-industry seed and Series A Sectors: food-cpg, consumer, life-sciences. Neighborhood: River North.
  • Chain Vision (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Blockchain-focused firm backing public, permissionless infrastructure and the developer tooling around it Sectors: web3.
  • Cleveland Avenue (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Don Thompson's (ex-McDonald's CEO) firm for food, beverage, restaurant tech and lifestyle brands; runs CAST US, a dedicated vehicle for underrepresented founders. Sectors: food-cpg, consumer. Neighborhood: West Loop.
  • Create Health Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Early B2B digital health, with a thesis around care delivery, operations and outcomes Sectors: healthcare, b2b-software.
  • Dipalo Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Advanced manufacturing, energy, climate and physical AI; backs industrial transformation technologies. Monika Razdan (on the people list) is on the platform side, and Dipalo was in the room at The Raise 2026 Sectors: climate, hardtech, ai. Neighborhood: Near West Side (mHUB).
  • Distributed Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Insurtech, fintech, healthcare and benefits platforms that modernize how risk, finance and workforce coverage work Sectors: fintech, healthcare. Neighborhood: West Loop.
  • DRW VC (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - The venture arm of DRW, the Chicago trading firm; stage-agnostic checks into financial and enterprise infrastructure with technical depth. Sits naturally next to Jump Capital Sectors: fintech, b2b-software, web3. Neighborhood: West Loop.
  • Energy Capital Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Early-stage fund for sustainability and digital transformation in the natural gas and energy industries, backed by energy-sector LPs Sectors: climate, hardtech, b2b-software.
  • Impact Engine (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Jessica Droste Yagan's impact firm with both a seed venture fund and a private equity strategy; economic empowerment, environmental sustainability and health equity Sectors: social-impact, climate, healthcare. Neighborhood: River North.
  • KB Partners (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Keith Bank's sports-and-technology fund: teams, athletes, fans and performance Sectors: sports. Neighborhood: Highland Park.
  • Listen Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Jeff Cantalupo's consumer and culture fund for brands and platforms with real cultural resonance; media, creator economy, CPG Sectors: consumer. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Marquee Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Early-stage fund rooted in the Ricketts family's sports ownership; sports, media and fan engagement Sectors: sports, creative, consumer.
  • Moderne Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Constance Freedman's seed/Series A fund for proptech, fintech, insurance and hospitality; runs the Moderne Passport, an industry immersion program connecting startups with its 700+ corporate partners Sectors: fintech, b2b-software, ai, climate. Neighborhood: Magnificent Mile.
  • Nomadic Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Climate fund investing early in startups decarbonizing mining, manufacturing and transportation Sectors: hardtech, climate.
  • Off Center Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Early-stage firm at the intersection of technology and media: content platforms, audiences and digital engagement Sectors: creative.
  • S2G Investments (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Lukas Walton's multi-stage platform for food and ag, oceans and energy; seed through growth with significant follow-on capacity Sectors: climate, food-cpg.
  • Sandbox Industries / Cultivian Sandbox (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Runs sector funds with corporate LPs: the Blue Venture Fund (Blue Cross Blue Shield plans) for healthcare, Sandbox Insurtech Ventures, and Cultivian Sandbox for food and ag tech; pre-seed through growth Sectors: healthcare, fintech, food-cpg, climate. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Supply Change (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Food, culture and technology; backs the brands and platforms shaping modern consumer food experiences (Chicago and Los Angeles) Sectors: food-cpg, social-impact, b2b-software.
  • TechNexus Venture Collaborative (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Corporate-venture collaboration model: invests alongside corporate partners from seed to growth and operates TeamWorking, the Loop coworking hub Sectors: ai, climate, hardtech. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Velveteen Ventures (Seed to Series A, sector specialists) - Values-driven firm backing businesses centered on children and planetary wellbeing; consumer, climate and social impact Sectors: consumer, climate, healthcare.
  • Baird Capital (Series A and B) - Venture and growth arm of Robert W. Baird; early and expansion-stage B2B tech-enabled services and healthcare in the "mid-country," with London and Singapore offices Sectors: b2b-software, hardtech, climate, healthcare. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Chicago Pacific Founders (Series A and B) - Healthcare services and healthtech, Series B through growth Sectors: healthcare. Neighborhood: Gold Coast.
  • Consumer Ventures (Series A and B) - Next-generation consumer brands, products and the enabling technology behind how people buy Sectors: consumer, food-cpg. Neighborhood: Hinsdale.
  • Drive Capital (Series A and B) - Columbus-based but with a Chicago office and the Midwest's largest fund (about $2.2B to $3B AUM); pre-seed to pre-IPO, thematically driven, with a popular $500K pre-seed program Sectors: general.
  • Energize Capital (Series A and B) - One of Chicago's largest climate funds (founded 2016 with Invenergy backing); software and technology for a digitized, decarbonized economy across energy and industrial systems Sectors: climate, b2b-software. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • First Analysis (Series A and B) - One of Chicago's oldest venture firms (40+ years), Series A and growth in vertical software and healthcare IT, paired with an in-house research practice Sectors: b2b-software, healthcare. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • Jump Capital (Series A and B) - Series A/B in data-driven fintech, IT and data infrastructure, B2B SaaS and media; $1M to $10M checks from a $350M fund; affiliated with Jump Trading Sectors: ai, b2b-software. Neighborhood: River North.
  • Lightbank (Series A and B) - Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell's firm (Groupon founders), about $700M AUM, seed through growth across AI, SaaS, fintech and marketplaces; Cameo, Sprout Social, Tempus-adjacent Sectors: b2b-software, healthcare, fintech, ai.
  • MK Capital (Series A and B) - Roughly $300M AUM, Series A/B in B2B software Sectors: b2b-software, hardtech. Neighborhood: Northfield.
  • Permanent Capital Ventures (Series A and B) - Expansion-stage fund co-founded by former LinkedIn executive Mike Gamson Sectors: ai, b2b-software. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Pritzker Group Venture Capital (Series A and B) - Evergreen Pritzker family capital, founded 1996; leads Series A and B in consumer, digital health, enterprise and emerging tech; frequent co-investor with Chicago Ventures, Jump and Baird Sectors: b2b-software, healthcare, consumer, hardtech. Neighborhood: Streeterville.
  • UChicago Startup Investment Program (Series A and B) - $25M fund for UChicago faculty, student and alumni companies, via Polsky Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Hyde Park.
  • 81 Collection (Series B+ and growth) - Founder-focused fund for the overlooked, industrial and operationally complex sectors traditional venture ignores: manufacturing, logistics, construction tech, proptech Sectors: hardtech, consumer.
  • Adams Street Partners (Series B+ and growth) - Chicago-headquartered fund-of-funds and co-investment manager; not a direct lead, but a major LP to venture funds, which matters for your Fund I planning Sectors: b2b-software, healthcare, fintech. Neighborhood: Loop.
  • ARCH Venture Partners (Series B+ and growth) - Spun out of UChicago in the 1980s and now one of the largest science-focused VCs anywhere ($6.4B raised 2019-2023); creates and funds biotech and deep-tech companies from inception through growth (Illumina, Juno, Agios) Sectors: life-sciences, deep-tech. Neighborhood: O'Hare.
  • Sterling Partners (Series B+ and growth) - Growth equity and PE across education, healthcare and business services Sectors: healthcare, b2b-software. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • Tonic Ventures (Series B+ and growth) - Growth capital for enduring consumer companies with strong brands, repeat demand and scalable economics Sectors: consumer, food-cpg.
  • Valor Equity Partners (Series B+ and growth) - Antonio Gracias's operational growth firm (Tesla, SpaceX, Anduril); control and non-control positions at B+ and beyond, plus Valor Siren Ventures for food and retail tech with corporate partners Sectors: deep-tech, hardtech, ai, climate. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.

Angel communities

  • Chicago Booth Angels - The Booth alumni angel network; a natural landing spot for students and recent grads who want to start writing checks Sectors: general.
  • Chicago Early Growth Ventures - Member investment group backing seed-stage companies with Chicago ties and building up the local angel pool Sectors: general.
  • The Josephine Collective - Angel investing collective led by Desiree Vargas Wrigley, backing early-stage founders and bringing new investors into the room Sectors: general.
  • Lofty Angels - The angel group attached to Lofty Ventures, backing early-stage Chicago founders Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Loop.

Tools

  • Affinity - Relationship-intelligence CRM built for VC and PE that auto-captures deal flow, contacts and warm paths from your email and calendar so the firm can track pipeline and who-knows-whom without manual data entry Sectors: general.
  • Airtable - Spreadsheet-database hybrid with linked tables, views, forms and automations that lets non-engineers build custom trackers for deal flow, portfolio monitoring or content pipelines Sectors: general.
  • AlphaSense - Expert-call transcript library and market-intelligence search platform used for diligence: reading thousands of prior expert interviews, filings and broker research on a company or sector instead of running your own calls Sectors: general.
  • Attio - Modern, highly customizable CRM that syncs contacts and companies from your inbox and lets you build your own data model and pipelines, often chosen by emerging managers and solo GPs as a lighter, cheaper Affinity alternative Sectors: general.
  • Claude - Anthropic's AI assistant; research, drafting, analysis, agentic workflow automation Sectors: general.
  • Crunchbase - Broad, lower-cost database of startups, funding rounds, investors and founders, good for quick lookups and top-of-funnel sourcing but shallower and less reliable than PitchBook on deal terms Sectors: general.
  • Gamma - AI-generated presentations and one-pagers; a quick way to turn notes into a deck Sectors: general.
  • Granola - AI meeting-notes app that transcribes calls and in-person meetings and merges your own typed notes with an AI summary, so founder meetings and investor conversations turn into searchable, structured notes Sectors: general.
  • Lovable - AI app builder that turns a prompt into a working web app; the fastest way to prototype an idea or diligence a founder's product claims Sectors: general.
  • Monday.com - General-purpose work-management platform of boards, workflows and automations for tracking projects and tasks, usable as a lightweight deal or portfolio tracker Sectors: general.
  • PitchBook - Subscription database of private-market data (VC and PE deals, valuations, cap tables, fund performance, investor and company profiles) that's the standard research and comps tool at most funds Sectors: general.
  • Replit - Browser-based coding environment with an AI agent; build and deploy without local setup Sectors: general.
  • Substack - Newsletter and publishing platform; where much of the best VC writing now lives, including this one Sectors: general.

Accelerators & founder programs

  • Alchemist Chicago - Deep-tech accelerator for pre-seed and seed-stage deep-tech startups with technical founding teams of at least two co-founders, building in quantum (via Duality), AI and data science, robotics, cleantech, agtech, advanced materials and manufacturing, biotech, spacetech and similar foundational technologies Sectors: life-sciences, hardtech, climate, food-cpg, deep-tech, ai. Neighborhood: Hyde Park.
  • Duality (is now part of the Quantum track at the Alchemist) - Accelerator for startups across quantum computing, sensing and communication, from software to hardware Sectors: deep-tech. Neighborhood: Hyde Park.
  • Food Foundry - Relish Works' accelerator for food and food-tech startups, with Gordon Food Service as corporate partner Sectors: food-cpg.
  • gener8tor - The Midwest-born accelerator with a Chicago program; investment plus a concierge-style, founder-first format Sectors: general.
  • mHUB Energy Tech Accelerator - Six-month, cohort-based hardtech accelerator run out of mHUB's Chicago innovation center, where selected startups get a $200,000 initial investment from mHUB Ventures, plus prototyping labs and technical assistance, mentorship, and connections to industry leaders and investors Sectors: hardtech. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • mHUB MedTech Accelerator - A six-month program in which mHUB invests $200,000 initial capital, provides structured mentorship, and connects startups with clinicians, manufacturing experts and regulatory advisors. The thesis is device-heavy: medical devices, diagnostics and connected health hardware, built in mHUB's prototyping facility Sectors: healthcare, hardtech. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • mHUB Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Accelerator - A six-month program in which mHUB invests $200,000 initial capital, mentorship, stipends, and access to mHUB's supplier network. It's designed to take a startup from concept or prototype to the foundation of a profitable, scalable business. Industry partners co-define each cohort so that market demand is identified up front, leading to pilots and investment on the back end Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Near West Side (mHUB).
  • mPOWER - MHUB's pre-accelerator for founders at the very earliest, idea-stage end of hardtech and physical product development Sectors: hardtech. Neighborhood: Fulton Market.
  • New Venture Challenge - University of Chicago Booth School of Business's flagship accelerator, run as a spring quarter Booth course with finals in May; $2.1M awarded in 2026 across 10 finalists. Alumni include Grubhub, Braintree/Venmo, Simple Mills, Tovala. There are variations of NVC: NVC, Social NVC, College NVC, Global NVC Sectors: general. Neighborhood: Hyde Park.
  • The Raise (LongJump) - Pre-seed fundraising program for first-time, post-product Chicago founders, run with World Business Chicago: six sessions (January to March) on how investors think and how to run a round, plus an investor matchmaking day with the LongJump network. No warm intro needed Sectors: general.
  • Techstars Chicago - The local program of the global accelerator; three months, investment, mentorship and a Demo Day Sectors: general.