Service Provider Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2014 and based in Golden, Colorado. The firm focuses on co-investing in series A deals led by institutional venture funds, primarily targeting seed-stage companies across various sectors, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, cybersecurity, e-commerce, education technology, fintech, hardware, information technology, robotics, and healthcare. In addition to its general investment strategy, Service Provider Capital manages the Midwest Fund I and Fund II, which concentrate on software and healthcare technology systems in the Midwest region of the United States. The firm typically prefers to take minority stakes in its investments and engages in syndication to diversify its portfolio.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), established in 1950 and located in Alexandria, Virginia, is an independent federal agency dedicated to advancing fundamental research and education across all scientific and engineering disciplines. With an annual budget of approximately $7.8 billion, the NSF operates America's Seed Fund, which allocates nearly $200 million each year to support startups and small businesses through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This initiative provides non-dilutive funding of up to $1.5 million to assist in research and development efforts, thereby facilitating the transformation of scientific discoveries into commercially viable products and services. By helping to de-risk technology, the NSF plays a crucial role in fostering innovation and addressing societal challenges through scientific advancements.

Serra Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Champaign, Illinois, founded in 1998. The firm focuses on investing in technology companies primarily located in emerging Midwest technology centers, as well as selected areas on the West Coast. Serra Ventures targets investments in various sectors, including information technology, deep technology, instrumentation, software as a service, devices, and agricultural technologies. By concentrating on these areas, Serra Ventures aims to support the growth of innovative companies that contribute to the technological landscape in the Midwest and beyond.

Valor Equity Partners is an operational growth investment firm that focuses on growth companies across various stages of development. For decades, it has served its companies with the expertise to solve the challenges of growth and scale. Valor Equity partners with companies and entrepreneurs who are committed to the highest standards of excellence and the courage to transform their industries.

Cleveland Avenue invests in seed-stage, early-stage, later-stage, and growth-stage deals focused on food and beverage companies, lifestyle consumer brands, AgTech, and technology companies.

US Department of Energy is a government agency that regulates energy policy, research, and development. The Energy Department's mission is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.

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.

Alumni Ventures Group provides high-quality, diversified venture portfolios to individual investors who previously haven't had access to VC. It helps accredited alums from top entrepreneurial schools invest together in the ventures of fellow alums. The firm backs companies with an alumni connection and an institutional lead investor with expertise in the space. AVG also offers focused funds that allow any accredited investor access to a venture portfolio, diversified by type, sector, stage, and geography. Beth Obermiller, Michael Madden, and Mike Collins co-founded the firm in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2013.

Chicago Ventures partners closely with exceptional entrepreneurs building companies in undercapitalized high-potential ecosystems.

Pritzker Group’s permanent capital base brings significant advantages, including alignment with management teams, efficient decision-making and flexible transaction structures. The Pritzkers’ history and the firm’s success give their companies access to an unparalleled network of advisors, strategic partners and customers.

Advantage Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 1992 and based in New Orleans, Louisiana, with additional offices across the United States. The firm specializes in growth equity, lending, and mezzanine debt capital investments, primarily targeting small businesses at various stages of development, from early to later stages, excluding seed investments. Advantage Capital focuses on investing in low-income communities, both urban and rural, and supports state and local economic development initiatives. It seeks opportunities in sectors such as communication, information technology, telecommunications, business services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, life sciences, and energy, while also considering investments in rural agricultural businesses. The firm typically makes initial investments ranging from $0.5 million to $10 million in companies with sales of less than $5 million, with potential for larger investments based on milestones. Advantage Capital also provides various forms of debt capital and prefers co-investing with other firms. The firm is committed to addressing the financing needs of underserved areas and fostering economic growth in communities lacking traditional sources of risk capital.

We're an early stage venture capital firm focused on equity investments in companies with dramatic growth potential, primarily in technology and highly-scalable services businesses. Our focus investment areas are digital health, fintech, consumer software, and enterprise software.

Lightbank VC is a $700M AUM venture fund that invests in early-stage vertically focused AI, consumer, enterprise, healthcare, crypto, fintech and climate companies. It focuses on pre-seed, seed and Series A opportunities where they write initial checks between $250k - $5m. They have invested in over 150 companies such as Tempus, Udemy, Fiverr (NYSE: FVRR), Sprout Social (NYSE: SPRT), Boom Supersonic, Tastytrade (acq. $1B+), Extend, Attain, Paytient and Expel.

M25 is a venture capital firm based in Chicago, founded in 2015, that focuses on early-stage investments primarily in the Midwest. The firm has invested in over 90 startups across more than 24 cities in 11 states, establishing itself as a significant player in the regional startup ecosystem. M25 employs an analytical and collaborative approach to identify opportunities across a diverse range of sectors, including technology, healthcare, finance, consumer products, and more. The firm aims to provide minority stake investments, targeting companies that demonstrate potential for growth in various industries such as analytics, e-commerce, and information technology. Through its strategic investments, M25 seeks to foster innovation and support the development of emerging businesses in the Midwest.

The 7wire Ventures’ vision is to use the power of mobility, connected devices, the cloud, and sophisticated analytics to further advance industries like healthcare and education. We like to make a difference in things that matter. The firm was founded on the concept of disrupting the status quo—supporting new ideas, technologies, approaches, and business models for solving society’s most important problems. 7wire Ventures provides funding and operating guidance to companies that challenge the “way things are done.” Through the creation of new businesses, investments in early and growth stage companies, and by complementing funds with insight and experience, we have a track record of transforming great ideas into world-class companies.

Jump Capital is a thesis-led, sector-focused, and operating-centric venture capital firm specializing in Seed/Series A. Jump invests in data-driven technology companies within the FinTech, B2B SaaS, IT/Data Infrastructure, and Media sectors. With offices in Chicago and New York, Jump provides advocacy and support through a platform of institutional-level resources for entrepreneurs. Jump's philosophy is to align with talented management teams that desire a trusted partner with real-world operating experience and a firm with an operating platform targeting initial investment checks between $2M to $10M.

SOSV is a global venture capital firm that focuses on deep tech investments through the HAX and IndieBio startup development programs aimed at human and planetary health. The firm invests in startups at their inception, providing support to accelerate their next institutional funding round. HAX offers facilities and engineering resources, while IndieBio provides services and lab equipment for founders. The firm targets deep technology innovations in the health and environmental sectors.

LongJump is a venture capital firm established in 2017 and located in Chicago, Illinois. It focuses on investing in early and seed-stage technology companies, particularly those based in the Illinois region. LongJump aims to support the next generation of founders by providing essential resources, including capital, connections, and a community that fosters growth and scalability. This approach enables entrepreneurs to develop their businesses effectively while navigating the challenges of the startup landscape. By prioritizing early-stage investments, LongJump seeks to cultivate innovative solutions and drive economic growth within its local ecosystem.

IrishAngels is an early-stage venture firm focused on funding the most promising startups across the US. We invest in pre-seed and seed stage startups and leverage our active network to add value to the companies we fund. All investors have a link to the University of Notre Dame but we do not exclusively fund founders with Notre Dame connections. We invest in B2B SaaS, consumer, and medical companies.

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.

MATH Venture Partners is an early to middle-stage fund managed by a seasoned team of hands-on investors and operators. We look for entrepreneurial teams that have customer acquisition as part of their core DNA. It is this maniacal focus, deep appreciation for process and exceptional talent that makes them stand out. MATH forms deep and personal partnerships with entrepreneurs. We have built and scaled many large companies to successful exits. Both of our Managing Directors are serial entrepreneurs and teachers at heart. We love to partner with coachable founding teams that strive to constantly improve. Let's build something great together.

Capital Midwest Fund is a venture capital firm that invests in advanced manufacturing, B2B, and healthcare technology companies.

FJ Labs is a stage-agnostic investment firm that focuses on marketplaces and consumer-facing startups. Their investments are seed and series A. The investment range of the company is $50,000 to $5,000,000. It invests in Alibaba Group, Beepi, BrightRoll, Betterment, Adore Me, and Earnest.

Wintrust Financial Corporation (Wintrust) is a financial services holding company based in Rosemont, Illinois, with assets above $18 billion. The Company engages in the business of providing traditional community banking services, wealth management services, commercial insurance premium financing, mortgage origination, short-term accounts receivable financing, and certain administrative services, such as data processing of payrolls, billing and treasury management services. The Company provides community-oriented, personal and commercial banking services to customers located in the greater Chicago, Illinois and southern Wisconsin metropolitan areas (see map) through its 15 wholly owned banking subsidiaries.

Born out of a love for building startups and a passion for backing entrepreneurs with heart, Corazon Capital (spanish for “heart”), a leading Chicago-based venture fund, brings a coastal approach to Seed and Series A investing. With a rare blend of investing experience and operating expertise, Corazon provides unusually pragmatic, actionable counsel to the entrepreneurs it supports. Corazon believes that the best entrepreneurs and the smartest VCs will intentionally solicit both financial and operating investors in their syndicates, with Corazon recognized across geographies for its deep operating knowledge and reach inside and outside of Chicago. Corazon’s co-founders, Sam Yagan and Steve Farsht, have accomplished track records as investors and operators. Sam co-founded SparkNotes, eDonkey, and OKCupid before posting up as CEO of Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) through its IPO, and most recently taking the reins as the CEO of Shoprunner. As a General Partner at Norwest Equity Partners, Steve participated in its growth from five to twenty-five investment professionals. He honed his operating chops as CEO of DCM Services, an NEP portfolio company. After moving to Chicago, Steve immersed himself in the startup ecosystem, first as COO of Tap.me and then co-CEO of Techstars Chicago. Upon launching its second fund, Corazon added Phil Schwarz, the former CMO of Tinder, where he was responsible for growth, brand and retention marketing on a global basis. Previously, Phil was Head of Growth Initiatives at Match Group and co-founder of the Kaplan/Techstars EdTech accelerator. Together, Corazon’s principals have founded six companies through to four exits, served as CEOs of companies worth over $5 billion (including taking a company public), executed over $1 billion in acquisitions, invested in excess of $300 million in private companies, and held over 30 board seats.

mHUB is a leading independent hardtech and manufacturing innovation center that exists to convene the entrepreneurial ecosystem around physical product innovation to ensure that the manufacturing industry continues to accelerate, grow and thrive. The mHUB community includes over 428 active and alumni startups and small businesses supported by a deep talent pool of product designers and developers, entrepreneurs, engineers and manufacturers, corporate leaders, industry experts, mentors and investors. Since launching in 2017, the mHUB community has generated more than $1.1B in revenue, launched more than 1,256 products, hired more than 4,153 employees, and raised nearly $1.45B in capital. For more information on the innovation center visit mhubchicago.com For more information on how to partner with mHUB's talent pool visit mhubhd.com

Impact Engine is a venture capital and private equity investment firm focused on growing companies that generate positive outcomes in education, health, economic empowerment, and environmental sustainability.

Fidelity Investments, founded in 1946 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, is a privately owned investment management firm that offers a wide range of financial services. These services include individual retirement accounts (IRAs), 401(k) rollovers, annuities, discount brokerage, retirement planning, estate planning, wealth management, and life insurance. The firm caters to individual investors, businesses, financial advisors, and institutions, managing equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds. Fidelity invests in global public equity and fixed income markets, employing in-house research to inform its investment decisions. The firm serves over 32 million individuals, assists more than 22,000 businesses in managing employee benefits, and provides support to over 13,000 financial institutions with innovative solutions. Fidelity operates through numerous regional offices and Investor Centers across the United States.

Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long-standing companies. Their portfolio includes pinterest, shopify, twilio, yelp, linkedin, pagerduty, docusign, wix, fiverr, and toast, and has $19 billion of assets under management.

Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is an outgrowth of Revolution’s Rise of the Rest platform, a national initiative launched in 2014 to spotlight emerging startup hubs. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund invests in seed- and early-stage companies located outside of New York City, Silicon Valley, and Boston. By partnering with regional ecosystem leaders and co-investors, Rise of the Rest is helping to build and scale the next wave of transformational companies. The Rise of the Rest Seed Funds are backed by a group of iconic entrepreneurs and business leaders committed to the vision that the next great startups will be located outside of the coastal tech hubs.

Insight Partners is a global software investor that partners with growth-stage technology and software companies. Insight has a deep focus in Fintech, Cybersecurity, AI/ML, DevOps, and Healthcare sectors. Across their people and their portfolio, they encourage a culture around a core belief growth equals opportunity. As of December 31, 2022, the firm has over $75B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 750 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO.

Listen is a consumer-only venture capital firm focused on backing and building the brands of tomorrow.

Goldman Sachs is a prominent global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm, established in 1869 and headquartered in New York City. The firm provides a range of services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals. Its Investment Banking segment offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and restructuring, as well as underwriting for public offerings and private placements of various securities. The Institutional Client Services segment focuses on client execution across fixed income, currencies, commodities, and equities, while also offering financing and securities lending to institutional clients. The Investing & Lending segment engages in originating long-term loans and investing in debt securities and real estate. Additionally, Goldman Sachs Asset Management serves both institutional and individual investors with comprehensive investment and advisory solutions across diverse asset classes. The firm also operates several specialized investment groups, including private equity and infrastructure funds, targeting a variety of sectors and investment strategies worldwide.

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.

Second Century Ventures is a venture capital fund focused on promoting innovation in the real estate industry and helping to enable the entrepreneurial spirit of real estate to thrive. SCV has been fully capitalized by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR). With over 1.4 million members, NAR is a 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.

Bain Capital Ventures is a venture capital firm that specializes in investing across all stages of a company's growth, from seed to growth equity. Founded in 1984 and based in Boston, with additional offices in New York, San Francisco, and Palo Alto, the firm focuses on high-growth opportunities in sectors such as fintech, enterprise software, and infrastructure. Bain Capital Ventures has invested in over 200 companies, including well-known names like DocuSign and LinkedIn, and manages around $3 billion in assets. The firm typically invests between $1 million and $100 million, with specific allocations for early-stage and growth capital investments ranging from $3 million to $50 million. It aims to support innovative startups that leverage technology to disrupt existing markets or create new ones, emphasizing industries transformed by data.

Connetic Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Covington, Kentucky, founded in 2014 by Brad Zapp. The firm specializes in investing in early-stage startups, particularly in the pre-seed and seed stages, with a focus on sectors such as software, data, fintech, and consumer services across North America. Connetic Ventures collaborates with other venture capital firms and angel syndicates to support the growth of its portfolio companies through strategic investments.

First Analysis is a private equity and venture capital firm based in Chicago, Illinois, with a focus on early-stage investments across the United States. Founded in 1981, the firm has a strong track record in venture capital, having invested over $750 million in a diverse range of sectors including healthcare, information technology, cybersecurity, clean-tech, and infrastructure. First Analysis provides financial advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate restructurings, and recapitalization. The firm aims to support established companies in becoming market leaders by funding growth initiatives and collaborating closely with management on strategy, recruitment, and corporate development. Known for its flexible investment approach, First Analysis typically invests between $3 million and $10 million, either as a lead investor or as a syndicate partner, bringing valuable insights to its portfolio companies.

New Enterprise Associates is a venture capital firm that invests in technology and healthcare startups. The firm engages with entrepreneurs at various stages of business development, providing support from initial funding to public offerings. The company focuses on the technology and healthcare industries.

Right Side Capital Management is a venture capital firm that helps startups build their company. It invests exclusively in the pre-seed round of technology startups and makes 75-100 investment per year. The firms prefers to invest in diversified technology sectors such as the internet and cloud companies. RSCM was established in 2010 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Silicon Valley Bank is a commercial bank headquartered in Santa Clara, California, specializing in providing diversified financial services to companies in technology, life sciences, cleantech, venture capital, private equity, and premium wine sectors. Established in 1983, it offers a range of services including debt financing, treasury management, corporate investment, and international banking. The bank operates through 27 offices in the United States and has an international presence with seven operations worldwide. By leveraging its industry expertise and global connections, Silicon Valley Bank aims to enhance the success potential of its clients, which include both emerging growth and established businesses. Additionally, its UK branch, founded in 2010, facilitates cross-border transactions and supports clients in meeting their strategic needs. The bank is recognized for its commitment to service excellence and innovation within the financial sector.

Revolution, LLC is a venture capital firm established in 2005, headquartered in Washington, D.C., with an additional office in San Francisco, California. The firm specializes in growth capital investments across various sectors, including Financial Services, Sports, Media & Entertainment, Marketplaces, Software & Services, Transportation, Hospitality & Travel, E-Commerce, Manufacturing, Education, Health, and Food. Revolution typically invests between $1 million and $12 million in portfolio companies, often aiming for a controlling stake. As part of its operations, Revolution encompasses several funds, such as Revolution Ventures and Revolution Growth, that target early-stage and growth-stage investments in technology-enabled businesses and innovative companies. The firm emphasizes collaboration with top-tier investors and actively participates in the governance of its portfolio companies. Revolution is committed to supporting entrepreneurs in high-potential geographies, advocating for the belief that great companies can emerge and thrive from diverse locations.

Great North Ventures invests in entrepreneurs who are using the latest breakthrough technologies to innovate industries still dominated by analog processes. From Seed to Series B, the team provides guidance, capital, and connections. The fund looks for the best startups wherever they are located, because the next generation of great companies are growing outside of Silicon Valley. Built by successful founders, Great North Ventures values the ability to execute above all else.

Liquid2 Ventures provides technology startups with seed-stage investments and is based in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded in 2015 by Joe Montana, Mike Miller, and Michael Ma.

Sandalphon Capital LLC is a venture capital firm based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 2016. The firm specializes in early-stage investments, focusing primarily on Seed and Series A rounds, as well as occasional Pre-Seed rounds. Sandalphon Capital targets a diverse range of industries, including Real Estate Tech, FinTech, InsurTech, RegTech, Healthcare IT, tech-enabled healthcare services, B2B SaaS, marketplaces, Internet of Things, and recurring revenue hardware. The firm typically invests between $100,000 and $300,000 and has a core geographical focus on the Midwest, particularly Chicago, while also considering opportunities in underserved markets across the United States and select areas such as New York for FinTech and Real Estate Tech. Sandalphon Capital places a strong emphasis on identifying capable management teams and scalable, tech-driven business models that can generate high-margin, recurring revenue.

MassChallenge is a non-equity startup accelerator headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with additional locations in Israel, Mexico, Switzerland, Texas, and the UK. Founded in 2009, it focuses on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship by supporting high-potential startups across various industries globally. MassChallenge provides expert mentorship, a tailored curriculum, and access to corporate partners without taking any equity from the startups. Its programs, including specialized initiatives like MassChallenge FinTech and MassChallenge HealthTech, aim to facilitate partnerships between startups and established companies to drive innovation and growth. To date, MassChallenge has helped over 1,200 alumni raise more than $2 billion in funding and create over 65,000 jobs, demonstrating its significant impact on the global innovation ecosystem.

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.

GTCR is a private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Financial Services and 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.

Founded in 2010, SBB Research Group specializes in bespoke investments designed to protect and grow investor capital. SBBRG views the market through a systematic lens and strives to simultaneously capture opportunities and mitigate risks, while avoiding overreactions in either direction. The firm's founder and CEO, Sam Barnett, Ph.D., is an applied mathematician and neuroscientist specializing in quantitative predictions of complex systems. He and Matt Aven, COO and CCO, have fostered interdisciplinary collaboration among experts in science, economics, engineering, and other key areas. The team is dedicated to continuous innovation to enhance its investment methodologies. In addition, SBBRG is committed to giving back to the community, both at the local and global level. The company regularly organizes volunteer events and sponsors underserved causes. Notably, SBBRG is the presenting sponsor of the annual Greater Chicago K-12 Chess Championship and is a proud partner of the Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, the World Wildlife Fund in the Northern Great Plains, Surge for Water in Uganda, and many other organizations.

HAX is a venture capital program that accelerates hardware startups through an intensive support system, operating primarily in Shenzhen and San Francisco. Founders begin their journey in Shenzhen, focusing on rapid prototyping and the development of various aspects of their business, including marketing strategies and business plans. Once they refine their products, teams transition to San Francisco, where the emphasis shifts to business development, fundraising, and establishing connections with corporates, investors, and media. HAX also offers specialized programs like HAX Growth, a seven-week bootcamp for launching B2C and B2B hardware startups, and HAX Boost, which helps selected teams enhance their sales and marketing strategies over six weeks. Founded in 2012, HAX is part of SOSV and targets technology companies that aim to create meaningful advancements in sustainability, industrial automation, and human health. The program continues to support startups beyond the initial phases, providing resources and guidance as they grow.