Rushed for time? Here is the top 5 Early Stage Venture investors for Financial Services startups. Scroll down for more information on these investors or to view the rest of the investors.
Name | Website | Stages | Location | Socials |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pritzker Group Venture Capital | Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed | Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America | ||
Adams Street Partners | Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed | Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America | ||
Second Century Ventures | Convertible Note, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Venture | Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America | ||
Motorola Solutions Venture Capital | Debt, Early Stage Venture | Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America | ||
Hyde Park Venture Partners | Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed | Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America |
At SeedRound we track over 200,000 investors and over 1,000,000 people who hold key positions in these firms. We use this directory of investors to highlight top employees, LP’s and funding organisations we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
We’ve ranked the top Financial Services Early Stage Venture investors in Illinois. The companies, startups and institutions listed in this article are all exceptional companies, well worth a follow. We have included links to their websites, socials and CrunchBase (if you’re interested in their financials).
We selected the organisations listed in this article based on:
- Track record
- Executive leadership
- Market share
- Innovation
- ESG rating
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Top Financial Services Investors & Funds (Illinois)
Pritzker Group Venture Capital
Pritzker Group Venture Capital helps entrepreneurs build market-leading technology companies at every stage of their growth. Since its founding in 1996, the firm has worked side-by-side with entrepreneurs at more than 100 companies, building partnerships based on trust and integrity. Its proprietary capital structure allows for tremendous flexibility, and our experienced team of investment professionals and entrepreneurs offers companies a vast network of strategic relationships and guidance. Successful exits in recent years include Fleetmatics (NYSE: FLTX), SinglePlatform (acquired by Constant Contact), Zinch (acquired by Chegg), Playdom (acquired by Disney), LeftHand Networks (acquired by Hewlett-Packard), and TicketsNow (acquired by Ticketmaster).
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Adams Street Partners
Adams Street Partners is a global private market investment management firm that offers comprehensive solutions for its investors. As one of the independent, employee-owned firms, Adams Street has established a reputation for strong performance, an extensive knowledge base, and a disciplined investment approach that values quality over quantity. For more than 45 years, Adams Street has gained the experience to successfully manage through some of the most challenging investment cycles. The collective knowledge of the Adams Street team works collaboratively to leverage the global resources of the Firm in navigating the complexities of private markets. Its mission as a premier private markets investment manager is to provide world-class investment performance and maintain the confidence of our investors through our deep understanding of the global private marketplace and deliver exemplary client service.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Asset Management, Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Second Century Ventures
Second Century Ventures (SCV) is a venture capital fund focused on promoting innovation in the real estate industry and helping to enable the entrepreneurial spirit of real estate thrive. SCV has been fully capitalized by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR). With over 1.4 million members, NAR is the largest trade association in the country. NAR can provide immediate strategic value to SCV portfolio companies by allowing them access to the vast resources of a 300-person organization with expertise, influence and power that comes only by being ingrained in an industry for over 100 years.
Stages: Convertible Note, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Commercial Real Estate, Financial Services, Smart Home, Venture Capital
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Motorola Solutions Venture Capital
Motorola Ventures helps turn great new ideas into thriving businesses. They are not a lab, but like one, they are about discovery. They focus on opportunities that complement Motorola’s total business strategy. They evaluate “new idea companies,” the people and technologies behind them and the vision they bring. They identify cutting-edge technology investments that will help them to achieve the best solutions to fit their customers’ needs. Every investment is a strategic alliance encapsulated by vision, creativity, and business acumen. Bringing together talent and sharing dreams allows them to achieve more together than they can alone. Motorola Ventures represents a diversified portfolio with a typical investment ranging from $1 million to $5 million. Their purpose is to nurture a venture company through its critical phases of start-up, growth and expansion. In addition to providing financial support, they offer business and technology expertise, market leadership and brand recognition to growing companies with compelling business plans. In turn, the companies they invest in introduce us to new ideas, new technologies and new markets. The result – strategic and financial value and, ultimately, competitive advantage.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Impact Investing, Venture Capital
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Hyde Park Venture Partners
Hyde Park Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth, mid-continent technology startups. We seek companies with an exceptional founding team and fast-growth potential, looking to raise a first or second round of capital. With offices in Chicago and Indianapolis, our team is tenacious, responsive, and committed to adding value to each investment.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Enterprise Software, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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OCA Ventures
OCA Ventures is an early stage (Seed, Series A, and Series B) venture capital firm focused on equity investments in companies with dramatic growth potential, primarily in technology and highly-scalable services businesses. OCA invests in many industries, with a preference for technology, financial services, education and healthcare technology. Founded in 1999, the firm is investing out of its fourth fund in companies spread throughout the United States.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Chicago Ventures
Chicago Ventures partners closely with exceptional entrepreneurs building companies in undercapitalized high-potential ecosystems.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Hyde Park Angels
Hyde Park Angels is a venture capital firm that transforms early-stage investing that provides value to entrepreneurs and investors by driving startup growth and investment success. The firm specializes in the fields of angel, investing, and venture capital. It was founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Exchanges, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Techstars Chicago
Techstars Chicago conducts programs for startups to connect with investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs. The company selects ten companies every spring to participate in the 13-week intensive summer program. Starting in early June, the ten companies build connections and their businesses during the program. The program culminates in an Investor Demo Day at the end of August where the companies showcase their progress and plans to more than 500 investors and mentors from around the country. Techstars Chicago was founded in 2010 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Consulting, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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S2G Ventures
S2G Ventures is a multi-stage food and agriculture venture fund investing in entrepreneurs whose products and services meet the shifting demands for healthy and sustainable food. The firm’s mission is to catalyze innovation to meet consumer demands for healthy, sustainable, and local food. S2G will identify sectors across the food system that are ripe for change, and form a multi-stage portfolio including seed, venture, and growth-stage investments. It seeks to invest in agriculture, ingredients, infrastructure and logistics, food safety and technology, retail and restaurants, and consumer brands. S2G Ventures was established in 2014 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Agriculture, Financial Services, Food and Beverage, Venture Capital
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JK&B Capital
JK&B Capital is a venture capital firm focused in the software, IT and commu- nications markets with over $1.1 billion of capital under management. Track Record Founded in 1996, JK&B has built a track record of generating exceptional returns for investors by identifying and investing in companies with technologies which have been critical to the growth of the world’s information economy. A key to JK&B’s success has been its ability to leverage its substantial technology domain expertise to identify, analyze and access the most promising emerging technologies and the companies behind them. JK&B then provide these companies with financial support, strategic guidance and most importantly technical guidance to help them grow and prosper. JK&B has distinguished itself in the venture capital industry through the level of “hands-on†technology expertise resident among its team of eight investment professionals and through the rigorous research, analysis and investment discipline it applies to each of its investments. Strong Leadership JK&B’s Partners have come from senior management positions at some of the most successful firms in the technology industry. JK&B Partners are recognized in the industry as thought leaders, industry visionaries and highly sought after value-added Partners within their areas of expertise. The firm’s Partners through their previous executive positions have established an extensive network of industry contacts and proprietary relationships extending JK&B’s intellectual reach and offering its portfolio companies high level access to potential customers, strategic partners and financing sources. Direct Access JK&B’s flat organizational structure and team-based approach allows the firm to respond very quickly to investment needs and market changes. JK&B believes that as technology becomes more sophisticated, venture capitalists must increasingly draw on specialized skills with a heavy focus on distinct technology expertise. The firm also takes a team-based approach to analysis and investment decision-making. JK&B believes that there is a changing definition of success in the VC industry. JK&B believes the firms that will flourish will be leaner, technically astute, and highly focused.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Origin Ventures
Origin Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in high-growth software, marketplace, and consumer businesses shaping the ‘Digital Native Economy’. Founded in 1999, the firm has the unique distinction of having multiple funds in the top 5% on realized performance. Typical check size is $500K to $8M. Select exits include Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB), BacklotCars, Tock, Ahalogy, and Teem. To learn more, visit www.originventures.com.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Business Development, Finance, Financial Services, FinTech, Venture Capital
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REACH
REACH is a strategic scale-up program owned and operated by Second Century Ventures, the investment arm of the National Association of Realtors®. Founded in 2013, REACH is focused on helping technology companies connect with one of the largest industries in the world: real estate. By helping companies innovate in the industry, we help hundreds of thousands of small businesses, millions of REALTORS® and consumers and the economy as a whole. REACH offers its member companies more than 350 mentors from top real estate companies as well as direct access to NAR’s membership to become customers and partners. REACH works closely with other accelerators and incubators and welcomes graduates of Excelerate, TechStars, DreamIt, YCombinator to apply to NAR REACH for targeted outreach, ongoing coaching and support. REACH accepts companies at all stages of investment – from an early idea to a standing company with revenues and investors. REACH is an accelerator with a focus on technology companies in the real estate and adjacent industries.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed, Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Business Development, Finance, Financial Services, Marketing, Real Estate
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Sandbox Industries
[Sandbox Industries](http://www.sandboxindustries.com), founded in 2003, is a Chicago-based venture capital firm with three main business lines: venture funds formed alongside strategic corporate partners, new business accelerator programs, and an innovation consulting business. Sandbox is the exclusive partner for [Blue Cross and Blue Shield Venture Partners I and II](http://www.bcbsvp.com), which connects entrepreneurs innovating in the healthcare space with 25 Blue plans across the country for strategic investment and partnerships. The [Cultivian Sandbox Food & Agriculture Fund II](http://www.cultiviansbx.com) is a leading fund in the US which invests in new technologies in the food and agriculture space. [Healthbox](http://www.healthbox.com), founded in partnership with BCBSVP, is a healthcare accelerator with a presence in several US cities as well as in London. Sandbox is also partnered with TechStars Chicago (formerly Excelerate Labs). The firm’s innovation consulting business, Sandbox Innovation Partners, connects established corporations with emerging companies and helps them work together through pilots, partnerships, investments, or acquisitions.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Venture Capital
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First Analysis
First Analysis is a leading venture capital investor. They have one of the longest records (30 years) in venture capital, having invested more than $750 million across multiple highly diversified funds. First Analysis invests mainly in the United States with a focus on our sectors of expertise: technology/software, healthcare, services, and clean-tech/chemicals. They help established companies become profitable leaders in large markets, funding growth plans and working closely with management in areas including strategy, recruitment, sales and marketing, and corporate development. Their flexible approach targets investing $3-10 million as lead investor or as a syndicate partner who brings valuable perspective to the table.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Banking, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners
BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners (BCBSVP) is a corporate venture fund program to which twenty-nine BCBS entities have committed over $500 million across three Funds. The Funds invest in promising emerging companies of strategic relevance to Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plans and provide access to its portfolio to deploy innovation at scale. The venture partners are sponsored by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. Sandbox Industries is the exclusive provider of investment management services to BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners. It was established in Chicago, Illinois in 2008.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Jumpstart Ventures
JumpStart Ventures is an investment fund built to partner with entrepreneurs solving problems that need intelligent innovation and ambitious solutions.The fund invests in founders with humble invincibility and purposeful creativity launching companies that positively impact the world around them.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Angel Investment, Enterprise Software, Financial Services
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KB Partners
KB Partners is a suburban Chicago based investment firm focused on early stage venture capital investments. KB’s principals take an active approach in helping to build dominant new enterprises by working in partnership with talented entrepreneurs and experienced managers. The firm is currently investing out of KB Partners Myriad Opportunity Fund I & II, which invests in passionate innovators at the intersection of sports and technology.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed, Venture
Location: Highland Park, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Sports, Venture Capital
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Illinois Ventures
Illinois Ventures is a seed and early-stage technology investment firm focused on research-derived companies in information technologies, physical sciences and life sciences, with a particular emphasis on those deriving from research conducted at the University of Illinois and other regional research institutions and federal laboratories. Current investments reflect targeted practice areas in energy, device physics, advanced materials, biotechnology, medical devices and instrumentation, homeland security, and software. Illinois Ventures works with inventors & entrepreneurs to mold concepts, vision, intellectual property, sweat and passion into breakthrough, high-growth companies, and was recently named by Entrepreneur magazine to its list of the top 100 venture capital firms nationally for entrepreneurs.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Venture Capital
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New Stack Ventures
Founded in 2015, New Stack Ventures is an early-stage venture firm based Chicago, Illinois. The firm targets pre-seed and seed stage startups investing $300k – $2M.
Stages: Convertible Note, Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Internet, Venture Capital
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Financial Solutions Lab
The Financial Solutions Lab was established in 2014 to cultivate, support, and scale innovative ideas that help improve financial health. We focus on solutions addressing acute and persistent financial health challenges faced by low- to moderate-income (LMI) individuals, Black and Latinx communities, and other underserved consumers. The Financial Health Network manages the Financial Solutions Lab in collaboration with founding partner JPMorgan Chase and with support from Prudential Financial.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Asset Management, Finance, Financial Services, FinTech, Information Technology, Non Profit
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Ares Management
Ares Management is a publicly-traded global alternative asset manager with approximately $144 billion of assets under management. It believes each of its distinct but complementary investment groups in credit, private equity, and real estate is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Asset Management, Credit, Financial Services
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Advanced Equities
[Advanced Equities](http://www.advancedequities.com) provides qualified high-net-worth individuals access to late-stage private equity offerings.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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GTCR
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Financial Services & Technology, Healthcare and Information Services & Technology industries. The Chicago-based firm pioneered the “Leaders Strategy†– finding and partnering with world-class leaders as the critical first step in identifying, acquiring and building market-leading companies through acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $8 billion in over 200 companies.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services
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Lakewest Venture Partners
Lakewest Venture Partners is an affiliate of Lakewest, Inc., a real estate and private equity company. In its first several years, Lakewest’s investments and participation in companies ranged from passive interest at $50,000-$100,000 to lead seed-stage investments in excess of $1,000,000 with board involvement. Since partnering with Dundee Venture Capital, Lakewest and Dundee now look to make lead seed-stage investments from $250,000-$750,000 in high-growth, early-stage technology companies. It is led by Buzz Ruttenberg, David Mann, and Jonathan McCulloch and was formed in 2013 to pursue seed and early-stage investment opportunities primarily in Chicago.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Commercial Real Estate, Financial Services, Real Estate
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DRW Venture Capital
DRW Venture Capital, an arm of principal trading firm DRW, invests primarily in financial and enterprise technology. Many of our portfolio companies benefit from our engagement beyond capital: as a client, as a liquidity provider, through our review of new products, and through our deep industry expertise. As a firm with no outside investors, we have a flexible mandate to deploy capital and often tap into our core business to help companies grow. We’re powered by the people, technology and ideas of DRW, and those we invest in may leverage it all. DRW has diversified business expertise and deep networks in trading and technology, real estate investment, cryptocurrencies and product development — a unique advantage.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, FinTech, Venture Capital
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I2A Fund
I2A is a Seed/Early Stage Venture Capital Fund focused on catalyzing and partnering with the next wave of successful entrepreneurial companies in the Illinois region. I2A Fund is now Chicago Ventures.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Energize Ventures
Energize Ventures is a leading global alternative investment manager focused on accelerating digital transformation in energy and sustainability. Founded in 2016, Energize has funded 21 companies to-date and is backed by strategic and institutional LPs including CDPQ, Invenergy, Schneider Electric, General Electric, Caterpillar, and more. With an unmatched depth and breadth of industry and operational expertise, Energize works in partnership with its portfolio companies to realize their full potential from early commercialization to growth scaling and into the public markets. For more information on Energize Ventures, please visit www.energize.vc.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Construction, Energy, Finance, Financial Services, Renewable Energy, Software, Sustainability, Venture Capital
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CIVC Partners
CIVC Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm with 50 years of experience. CIVC has invested $1.7 billion in 66 platform transactions and over 100 add-on acquisitions since 1989. CIVC is currently investing out of CIVC Partners Fund V. CIVC focuses on companies operating within the business services and financial services industries.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Nine Four Ventures
Nine Four Ventures is a multi-stage PropTech fund that invests in companies impacting the people, processes, and ecosystems that interact with the built world.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Real Estate, Venture Capital
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Guggenheim Partners
Guggenheim Partners embodies a successful, century-old family tradition that emphasizes wealth preservation with sustainable capital growth. Guggenheim Partners is a diversified financial services firm, offers investment management and banking, and insurance services. Their mission is to offer clients unparalleled service and performance through design and execution of financial services. They provide a sophisticated array of wealth and investment management services. Guggenheim Partners honors the high standards and achievements of their family history, to which they add modern expertise in wealth management, investment management, and capital markets services. Their approach to providing services to their clients differs in design and practice from that of other firms. They ground their service offerings in pioneering academic research and proven approaches to investment strategies. Their family history has shown repeatedly that talented, knowledgeable and experienced individuals make the difference in any line of business. As entrepreneurs and investors, they recognize how creative thinking and risk-taking produce wealth. As investment professionals, they understand how to manage wealth prudently. As capital markets professionals, they understand how to assess, measure, and manage financial risk. As trustees and board members of foundations and endowments, they understand the unique financial challenges that confront these institutions. As stewards of the wealth of the Guggenheim family and other families and institutions, they know from experience the investment challenges associated with multi-generational wealth.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Pallasite Ventures
Pallasite Ventures provides early-stage financing for high-growth companies across a variety of industries. It was founded by David Light and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services
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Sterling Partners
Sterling Partners is a private equity firm with a history of generating extraordinary returns for their investors. With nearly $4 billion of capital under management, their investment strategy is to invest from $5 million to more than $150 million of equity in each company with which they partner. They invest in industries with positive, long-term trends and bring their experience, expertise, and network in driving value to their portfolio companies. Their continued success is driven by Sterling’s investment in an operationally-focused strategy, and by their unique team of industry veterans, operators, investors, strategy experts and human capital professionals.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Private Equity
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Angel Investment, Finance, Financial Services
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WP Global Partners
Through an active investment approach, WP Global will partner with entrepreneurs hungry to grow private companies as well as fund managers determined to achieve superior returns. WP Global’s strategy is juxtaposition to simply administering investments in companies and in funds. Our unique strategy unchains us from traditional conventions and perceived risk, ultimately allowing our partners to build long-standing, high growth, and influential organizations. You’re more likely to see us in person than talk to us over the phone because we believe knowledge is acquired on-sight through interpersonal engagement – we are continuously attending events and visiting companies. WP Global creates quality deal flow through vigorous outbound efforts and generates investment returns through active management. We leverage our partners for their operational and domain experience and they leverage us for our network. By proactively investing directly into hundreds of private companies, private equity funds, and venture capital funds, WP Global generates a synergy of deal flow that is unrivaled. Along with leveraging our network, WP Global employs portfolio modeling and other investment management tools to gain foresight into the market momentum of the thousands of small private companies, which ultimately provides investment conviction.
Stages: Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Secondary Market
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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PEAK6 Investments LLC
PEAK6’s first tech-based solution was developed in 1997 to optimize options trading and, over the past two decades, the same formula has been used across a range of industries, asset classes, and business stages to consistently deliver superior results. Today, PEAK6 seeks transformational opportunities to provide capital and strategic support to entrepreneurs and forward-thinking businesses, helping to unlock potential and activate what is into what ought to be. PEAK6’s core brands include PEAK6 Capital Management, Apex Clearing, National Flood Services, and Evil Geniuses.
Stages: Convertible Note, Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Information Technology, Trading Platform, Venture Capital
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Chaifetz Group
Chaifetz Group is a venture capital and private equity firm specializing in early and mid-stage growth companies. Led by entrepreneur and investor Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, Chaifetz Group has an established track record of building businesses and working with management teams to create lasting value. Chaifetz Group was founded in 2012 and is based in Chicago, I.L.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Zebra Ventures
Zebra Ventures is the strategic investment arm of Zebra Technologies. Zebra Ventures brings the discipline of a financial investor and the value of a strategic partner. Zebra Ventures invests in early stage companies that represent a true partnership and extend Zebra’s vision of Enterprise Asset Intelligence to improve productivity and the customer experience in the retail, transportation and logistics, warehousing and manufacturing, and healthcare verticals that the company serves. Working closely with its portfolio companies, Zebra Ventures provides venture capital to sustain a business through the startup, growth, and expansion phases. Perhaps more importantly, Zebra Ventures brings deep domain expertise, unique access to its engineering resources, and a vast distribution network to help portfolio companies deliver on their growth initiatives.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Lincolnshire, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Business Development, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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KGC Capital
KGC Capital is a venture capital firm that specializes in seed and early-stage venture investments. It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The firm was founded by Richard Kiphart.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Kettle Partners
Kettle Partners based in Chicago, Illinois, is a venture capital firm that focuses on emerging stage companies that enable Telecommunications, New Media and the Internet. Kettle’s portfolio includes MetaSolv Software, Inc., Coppercom, Diveo, Ignite Sports Media, Active.com, Full Audio, and E-Greetings Network, Inc
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Edgewater Private Equity Fund
The Edgewater Funds is a Chicago-based private equity firm with $1.4 billion in committed capital. Edgewater provides capital and resources to lower middle market companies to help accelerate their growth and market leadership. Edgewater’s Partners and Advisors have been successful CEO’s and business leaders. They believe that the best financial partner is a team of investors who have successfully built, run and sold companies themselves.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Germin8 Ventures
Germin8 Ventures is a multi-stage, strategically-oriented venture capital firm investing in disruptive Food & AgTech companies across the value chain, in various stages, globally. It is a group of like-minded industry veterans and sophisticated investors providing investment and strategic resources to transformative Food & Agriculture Technology companies that are addressing major demand trends and improving the global food system through disruptive technologies and solutions.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed, Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: AgTech, Financial Services, Impact Investing, Venture Capital
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Ariadne Capital Limited
Ariadne Capital is an investment and advisory firm that enables corporates who seek new digital revenues and startups who understand digital infrastructure. It specializes in sourcing funding, advising on business development, and exiting growth-stage digital companies. Ariadne Capital also brings its technology insight to corporates, advising them on innovating their business models, and how to work with entrepreneurs and high-growth startups to win in their markets.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Malta, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Business Development, Finance, Financial Services
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Concentric Equity Partners
Concentric Equity Partners is a private equity firm based in Chicago, IL. They provide capital and experience to profitable growth businesses run by outstanding management teams. Their approach is to support entrepreneurs with capital, operating expertise and industry knowledge.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Mosaix Ventures
Mosaix Ventures is an investment partnership focused on supporting innovative companies with exceptional potential. Mosaix was founded in 2000 with initial capital from a European family office. Relative to the traditional venture capital and hedge fund model, Mosaix offers family offices, fund of funds and other asset managers a compelling extension to their direct investment activities — as defined by investment flexibility, transparency and cost-effectiveness.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Levy Family Partners
Levy Family Partners is an investment enterprise that owns restaurants that operates concessions at various stadiums and arenas.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Enterprise, Financial Services, Restaurants, Venture Capital
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Equity Group Investments
Equity Group Investments (EGI) is a 50+-year-old, Chicago-based private investment firm founded by Sam Zell.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Real Estate Investment, Venture Capital
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Nameless Ventures
When many entrepreneurs begin their journey, no one knows who they are or what they are about to accomplish. Often, the people who back a startup and help drive growth stay behind the scenes. We believe great ideas deserve a start — even if they don’t have a name yet. We’re an early stage (Seed to Series A) technology investor based in Chicago. We’re entrepreneurs and investors who have helped start and operate dozens of startups, and we back our founders in every sense of the word.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Venture Capital
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G2T3V
We are value-added investors basically limiting our investments to areas where the team has personal experience, industry connections and specific expertise in the marketplace, business processes, customers, competition, technology and/or regulatory environments. We will be hands-on, active participants (with Board or Advisor seats) in the management and operation of the portfolio companies and any incremental compensation which is earned or provided as a result of such services will be contributed to the fund as well. We will focus on industries (insurance, automotive, media and marketing, data management and analytics, customer satisfaction management, technology and education) where we have spent many years working and where we know both the past, present and hopefully the future directions that these industries will take. We believe there are great opportunities which the radical changes in these industries (created by disruptive innovators) will create for fast movers and early adopters with the experience to offset the most critical risks that these new enterprises pose which are (a) the execution risks that accompany rapid growth combined with (b) the need for quick decision making in an environment of constant change.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Impact Investing, Innovation Management
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Dunrath Capital
Dunrath Capital is a research-based private equity and strategic advisory firm. The Dunrath team has extensive operating and investment experience in the sectors in which they invest and advise. The current principal investment fund, Dunrath Capital Infrastructure Surety Fund invests in early and growth-stage companies delivering infrastructure surety products and services. Infrastructure surety is defined as those products and services that identify, protect, or defend against threats to modern infrastructures.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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InvestHER Ventures
The female founders we invest in must be dynamic, creative and passionate with early stage functioning technologies. We invest in data driven business solutions for untapped markets.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Angel Investment, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Garland Capital Group
Garland Capital Group is an investment firm that facilitates growth-focused equity investments in high-growth companies. It creates opportunities for growth-stage companies to successfully launch industry-disrupting products and services in traditional markets. The firm also involves in the process of collaborating and teaching entrepreneurs on various factors, including how to run their businesses, lead teams, build a client or customer base, and know when to scale. Garland Capital Group was founded in 2012 by Gary Holdren, former president and chief executive officer at Huron Consulting Group. It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Ringleader Ventures
Most look at startups and corporations as David vs. Goliath. Ringleader Ventures sees supply and demand. We partner with Fortune 500s to understand their strategic “itches”, and hunt for startups that could “scratch” them. Learn more at www.ringleaderventures.com
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Elmhurst, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services
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Bluestar Ventures
Bluestar Ventures is a Financial Services company located in 208 S La Salle St # 1020, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Cornerstone Angels
Cornerstone Angels is a membership-based private investment group composed of successful entrepreneurs and business executives. The group seeks to provide financial capital, mentorship, and advisory support to high growth organizations. The company will consider opportunities nationally, but is focused on the greater Midwest given its Northbrook, IL base. The group invests across sectors with particular interest within Software, Media & Entertainment, Mobile, Manufacturing & Industrial, Consumer/Retail & Food/Beverage, Business Services, Healthcare Services and CleanTech. We do not currently invest in Life Sciences, Biotech, or Real Estate. Our goal is to provide our financial and mentor capital to help build a dynamic entrepreneurial and investor community in the Midwest, though we do consider opportunities across the country. To work towards this goal, we target opportunities which can grow quickly into large sustainable businesses, and which will fuel innovation and job creation within our region. We target companies raising $500K to $3MM, with pre-money valuation up to $5MM. Our sweet spot for initial investment is in the range of $100K to $500K. With these considerations, we are either involved as a single party in a small round or as part of a larger round. Based on the specific financing needs, our investments have ranged from as little as $10k up to ~$1MM, and through our network and alliances with multiple investment parties, we can be helpful in bringing together syndicates of several million dollars. Cornerstone Angels is a member of the Angel Capital Association and is active in collaboration and syndication with Angel groups nationwide. We actively support companies and entrepreneurs under funding consideration by making introductions to other parties as relevant and based on interest. Through our efforts since our launch we have built a portfolio of 35 companies.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture
Location: Northbrook, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Asset Management, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Talon Capital Partners
Talon Asset Management, LLC is a diversified investment management company based in Chicago, Illinois. The firm currently has $1.1 billion under management and employs a fundamental, bottom-up research approach that has a value and opportunistic orientation. Investment Manager Since 1983 Individually Managed Equity, Fixed Income, and Balanced Accounts Hedge Funds Private Equity/Venture Capital SEC Registered Investment Advisor ERISA Qualified Manager
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Angel Investment, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Clover Capital Partners
Clover Capital Partners is an investment firm focused primarily on the food and beverage industries. Our flexible investing approach is inspired by the diverse needs of privately-held companies and of the individuals who own and operate them. We dedicate ourselves to a limited number of businesses at a time, providing financial capital, operating resources, and strategic leadership, and are capable of filling operating roles when appropriate.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Evanston, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services
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Batterson Venture Capital
Batterson Venture Capital is an investment fund that is focused on entrepreneurial seed, startup, and early-stage companies. The firm seeks to invest in media, healthcare, and technology sectors. It was founded in 2014 and is based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Incubators, Venture Capital
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Huizenga Capital Management
Huizenga Capital Management is an investment management company that specializes in overseas investments. It offers solutions in the fields of range of asset classes, including private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, public securities, real estate, and oil & gas. The company was founded in 1990 and headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Venture
Location: Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Exchanges, Financial Services
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Heartland Angels
Heartland Angels is an open network of individuals looking to assist seed and early-stage companies in obtaining investment capital and in furthering their innovations. Heartland Angels consists of an open group of accredited and non-accredited investors. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Skokie, Illinois.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Skokie, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Exchanges, Financial Services
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First American Bank
First American Bank is a company that provides personal and business banking products and services. It also provides checking and health savings accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, home equity, mortgage loans, auto loans, and express credit cards.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Elk Grove Village, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Banking, Credit, Credit Cards, Finance, Financial Services
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Auctus Capital Partners
Auctus Capital Partners is a multi-faceted financial group specializing in merger & acquisition advisory; institutional private placements of debt and equity; financial restructuring; valuation; and strategic consulting. Our experienced professionals have the foresight necessary to navigate through highly complicated transactions to maximize value for our clients.
Stages: Crowdfunding, Debt, Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Wealth Management
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Axios Investments
Axios Investments LLC seeks investments in MidWest centric early stage, high-tech companies, particularly in the current social, social commerce, mobile, and big data markets. They start with the people first. They think the ideas that entrepreneurs start with evolve and change dramatically from the beginning and sometimes end up unrecognizable, so They believe in investing in the people. Their companies target products and services that have the potential to reach millions of users and keep them engaged, and can distinguish themselves from their competition. Axios plays an active role in the companies in which They invest by becoming an advisor, further ensuring the brands continue their successful trajectories.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services
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DunRobin Ventures
DunRobin Ventures is a full service venture capital firm backed by an exclusive angel investor community, where investors are offered the opportunity to invest in the midwest’s best startups. We’re giving investors access to deals that have never been available to them. If you haven’t already, check us out!
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Seed
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Gryffindor Capital
Gryffindor Capital Partners, L.L.C. is a venture capital and private equity firm specializing in early stage, growth equity situations, and industry consolidations. Within the early stage investments, the firm targets technology companies that provide technologies and products or services that facilitate the integration of physical assets and online capabilities.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Ravenswood Capital
Ravenswood Capital Venture Funds is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments. The firm seeks to invest in information technology, software, Internet, infrastructure, financial services, business services, direct marketing technologies, business-to-business, and educational services companies.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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DWG Investment Bank
As part of diversified investment group we provide support for the creation of privately-owned and managed investment funds in Ukraine as well as sponsoring other developing countries entering an unproven market and industry. We raise,make and manage direct equity and equity-related investments and assets up to $1B per project in new, expanding or privatizing emerging market companies, infrastructure and manufactures.
Stages: Early Stage Venture, Grant, Late Stage Venture, Private Equity
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Angel Investment, Asset Management, Banking, Financial Services, Hedge Funds, Impact Investing, Venture Capital
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RPK Capital
RPK Capital is a capital solutions provider to commercial airlines and leasing companies across the globe. RPK Capital was founded in 2004, by an experienced team of investors in aviation assets.They have established expertise in a wide array of aviation investments that include both debt and equity transactions. Their disciplined approach to investing is predicated on attention to technical detail as well as a wide scope of market factors. Their team is experienced in originating transactions and constructing portfolios of strong cash flow generating assets while at the same time managing risk. Their team has deep industry knowledge and is highly respected by industry experts for their history of successfully structuring numerous complex transactions. Strategic partnering with The Carlyle Group (2010-2014) is emblematic of the value of RPK Capital’s high-performing, risk-adjusted investing. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, IL and has an additional office in the United Kingdom.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services
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Volworks
Volworks is an equity options-focused wealth tech company. It is disrupting the traditional investment model by empowering investors and advisors to customize institutional option strategies based on their unique risk, return, and regret profiles.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Glenview, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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Women’s Tech Accelerator by Brad Deals
Women’s Tech Accelerator by Brad Deals provides the resources and support to Chicago-based female entrepreneurs with great business ideas. The accelerator provides fledgling, female-run businesses the support they need in order to achieve success in the future. Its current cohort of businesses includes a social club for millennial professionals, an online gift inspiration source, and an automated feedback system for managers. Fifty (50) percent of our Brad Deals’ staff is female, most of the tech world is sorely lacking in gender equality, especially when it comes to leadership and technical roles. Women make up more than half of the national workforce, and yet only 30 percent of tech workers identify as female.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Coworking, Finance, Financial Services, Management Consulting, Venture Capital
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Moderne Passport
The Moderne Passport is a 7 month industry immersion program that helps companies refine and execute their go-to-market strategies, connect with Members of the Moderne Network™ – over 700 corporations and executives from market leading companies – and provides mentorship, pilot opportunities and even investment and acquisition potential for participants.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Financial Services
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Shorebank Capital Corp.
A venture capital fund investing in minority-owned companies which have the potential for high growth. Investments may be in the form of equity or subordinated debt.
Stages: Early Stage Venture
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America
Industries: Finance, Financial Services, Venture Capital
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