Biotech / PharmaGreater Chicago

ARCH Venture Partners

Biotech / Pharma · CHICAGO, IL

Founded 1986 as UChicago initiative to commercialize UChicago + Argonne National Lab IP. Now independent deep tech + life sciences VC. Chicago + Seattle + SF offices. Deployed $3B+ in life sciences 2024–2025. Seed/early stage. Founding GP: Steven Lazarus; current MD: Keith Crandell.

Founded

1986

Region

Greater Chicago

Portfolio

People

Keith Crandell
Robert Nelsen

About Chicago

Chicago grew up as the country's rail crossroads, and that same infrastructure logic shows up now in its logistics and enterprise-software companies. Northwestern, the University of Chicago, and UIC all sit in or near the city, and its options and futures exchanges (the CME, the CBOE) gave it a financial-engineering culture that Chicago's fintech scene draws on more directly than people assume.

Region Stats

Total firms 63

VC / investors 19

Companies 22

Schools 22

Known For

Enterprise

Fintech

Logistics