What Chicago Ventures does

Chicago Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2012 and headquartered at 220 N Green St., Chicago, Illinois. The firm leads seed rounds in companies operating in industries it considers overlooked by mainstream venture investors, with a stated focus across Supply Chain/Logistics/Warehousing, Healthcare, Fintech, Enterprise Tools, Consumer Media & Entertainment, Data Management, Proptech, Small Business Tools, and Mobility. Its core offering is early-stage equity capital paired with operational partnership, board participation, and high-conviction check-writing in advance of obvious commercial traction.

The firm is staffed by a small seven-person team comprising four Partners (Rob Chesney, Eric Duboe, Lindsay Knight, Stuart Larkins), one Associate (Ford Johnstone), one Entrepreneur in Residence (Emma Lawler), and one Venture Partner (Kevin Willer). It maintains a portfolio of over 100 companies distributed across 20+ cities globally, including category-defining positions in G2 (software marketplace), SpotHero (digital parking), project44 (logistics visibility), Cameo (creator marketplace), and Sunbit (point-of-sale financing). Track record of liquidity events includes the acquisitions of Pluto TV by Viacom (2019) and Tock by Squarespace (2021).

Chicago Ventures generates returns through standard venture capital economics: capital appreciation of portfolio holdings, carried interest on successful exits, and management fees on fund capital. Recent disclosed activity in 2025–2026 includes leading seed rounds in InstaSwitch ($4.7M), Intelligent Legal Solutions ($3M), and co-leading Annie ($4M), while participating in Series B rounds for GreenLite Technologies ($49.5M) and GoodShip ($25M). The firm also carries a $57M debt obligation from CytoDyn that was renegotiated in 2026.

Name

Chicago Ventures

Legal name

Chicago Ventures

Website

https://chicagoventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Chicago Ventures is a Chicago-based seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2012 that leads early rounds in supply chain, healthcare, fintech, enterprise tools, and other overlooked industries, operating with a small partner-led team across a 100+ company portfolio spanning 20+ cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital and Seed Funding

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB), Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Seed venture capital
• Early-stage investment
• Startup funding
• Venture capital firm
• Early-stage investors

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Chicago Ventures generates returns through investment in early-stage companies. As a VC firm, they earn returns through capital appreciation of portfolio companies, carried interest on successful exits, and management fees. The firm leads early rounds and takes board seats, providing operational support to help companies succeed, with the goal of generating returns through eventual exits via acquisition or IPO.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Chicago Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that leads seed and early investment rounds in startups. It writes high-conviction checks, takes board seats, and serves as an operationally-involved partner during a company's earliest days, with a portfolio spanning Supply Chain/Logistics, Healthcare, Fintech, Enterprise Tools, Consumer Media & Entertainment, Data Management, Proptech, Small Business Tools, and Mobility across 20+ cities.

Product overview

Chicago Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that leads early investment rounds in startups across industries including Supply Chain/Logistics, Healthcare, Fintech, Enterprise Tools, Consumer Media & Entertainment, Data Management, Proptech, Small Business Tools, and Mobility. The firm does not offer products or services in the traditional SaaS/product sense; its offerings are investment capital, operational partnership, and board participation for founders building early-stage companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seed and early-stage venture capital investment

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio includes successful exits including G2, SpotHero, Project44, Cameo, and over 100 portfolio companies

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hyde Park Venture Partners: Chicago-based early-stage VC firm leading seed and Series A rounds across sectors; directly comparable regional peer investing in the same geography with similar check sizes and stage focus.
• Lightbank: Chicago-based early-stage VC led by founders of Groupon, focused on seed and Series A consumer/enterprise tech; highly comparable peer in stage, geography, and high-conviction board-participating model.
• M25: Midwest-focused seed VC firm based in Chicago and Indianapolis investing at the earliest stages; directly comparable in regional focus, seed check size, and operator-led support model.
• Origin Ventures: Chicago-based early-stage VC investing in software, fintech, and consumer; long-standing regional peer with comparable seed-stage focus and Chicago HQ.
• Las Olas Venture Capital: Early-stage VC that co-led Annie seed round alongside Chicago Ventures; comparable seed-stage firm investing in overlooked or vertical-specific opportunities.

Regional players

• Drive Capital: Midwest-anchored VC that started with seed/early-stage and grew into growth; regional peer with overlap in overlooked-industries thesis and Midwest geography, but larger fund size and broader stage mandate.
• Illinois Ventures: University-affiliated VC in Illinois investing in early-stage tech; comparable in region and stage but with different mandate tied to university ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Bessemer Venture Partners: Large multi-stage VC co-investing with Chicago Ventures in GoodShip Series B; broadly comparable in supply chain/logistics investing and broader VC category but operates at much larger fund and stage scale.
• Craft Ventures: Multi-stage VC co-invested with Chicago Ventures in GreenLite Series B; broader incumbent operating across stages and geographies with overlap in enterprise/AI deal flow.
• Insight Partners: Large growth-stage VC leading rounds (GreenLite) in which Chicago Ventures participates; broader incumbent with overlap in supply chain, fintech, and enterprise software investment themes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ChicagoVentures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3197829
• Instagraminstagram.com/chicago-ventures
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChicagoVentures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments180 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chicago Ventures