Wynnchurch Capital is a private equity firm with $9.1 billion in assets under management that invests between $50 million and $750 million in middle-market companies with annual revenues between $100 million and $3 billion. The firm focuses on corporate carve-outs, underperforming businesses, growth situations, and family-owned businesses in transition across the manufacturing, distribution, and services sectors in the United States and Canada.

Chicago + Indianapolis B2B software VC. Seed–Series A. $250K–$4M checks. High-growth Midwest tech. SaaS, adtech, mobile. Notable: Geofeedia, Avant, FourKites.

Purple Arch Ventures — Alumni Ventures fund for the Northwestern University community. Co-invests alongside top VCs in Northwestern University-affiliated companies. Part of Alumni Ventures platform ($1.5B AUM, Manchester NH).

#1 university-affiliated tech incubator in US. Merchandise Mart, Chicago. 140K sq ft. 500+ startups. Ranked #1 university-affiliated US incubator. Hub for Chicago tech ecosystem.

Early-stage fund for underrepresented founders, especially Latinas. Founded by Samara Hernandez. Chicago IL. [merged from 1381]: Latina-led VC. Chicago.

Largest angel group in Midwest. Founded by Chicago Booth classmates. Enterprise, consumer, healthcare. Seed and early stage. "People First" model.

Jump Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in founders building AI-driven solutions across industries. The firm provides capital, strategic guidance, and operational support to portfolio companies, with a team of partners and operating advisors who draw on experience in financial services and technology scaling.

Lakeshore Ventures — Alumni Ventures fund for the University of Chicago community. Co-invests alongside top VCs in University of Chicago-affiliated companies. Part of Alumni Ventures platform ($1.5B AUM, Manchester NH).

Founded by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. Consumer tech, enterprise, fintech, climate. Seed through late stage. Notable: Groupon, Sprout Social.

Most active early-stage VC exclusively in Midwest. Chicago HQ. 14 states. Data-driven seed. 100+ companies.

$1.65B AUM over 4 funds. Growth-stage enterprise software and AI. HQ Santa Monica. Backed CrowdStrike, KnowBe4, Forter. Hosts The Montgomery Summit annually (~1,000+ attendees). Co-Founder & Managing Partner: Jamie Montgomery.

Chicago seed/early-stage VC.Teams with unfair customer acquisition advantage. Notable: Telnyx, NowSecure.

Chicago pre-seed/seed. Deep tech, hard tech, IoT, AI, blockchain, B2B SaaS for legacy industries. $42.6M Fund II.

Chicago early-stage tech, fintech, healthcare IT. Entrepreneur-friendly, hands-on. Connected to Northwestern ecosystem. $100M+.

Chicago multi-stage VC. E-commerce, digital media/adtech, B2B SaaS. Notable: Grubhub (seed), Braintree (early). Manages iVenture Accelerator at University of Illinois.

Venture arm of Pritzker family. Digital technology, consumer, manufactured products. Notable: Tempus AI (IPO June 2024, $6B valuation).

Chicago CVC collaboration firm. Co-invests corporations with early-stage tech startups. Corporate innovation with equity stakes.

Northwestern University student/alumni entrepreneurship hub. Evanston IL. Pre-accelerator support, mentoring, early-stage community. Gateway to Northwestern VC network.