VENTURE FORUM
Having the opportunity to present a business plan to interested venture capital firms and angel investors is a critical step that no entrepreneur can take lightly. To facilitate these relationships and to ensure that once established they become fruitful, the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC) launched the Venture Forum, a private forum now held quarterly with top VC participants. The forum is an opportunity for CEC clients to present their companies to potential investors, advisors and venture capitalists, followed by a question and answer session.
The CEC follows up with each investor and, when appropriate, reconnects entrepreneurs with them, continuing to lend support and counsel during the entire process until the final round of financing is closed.
Investor participants have included:
- Apex Venture Partners
- Arch Development Partners
- Baird Venture Partners
- CID Equity Partners
- DePaul Blue Demon Angel Network
- Duchossois Technology Partners
- Greylock Venture Capital (East Coast Office)
- Guren Capital
- Heartland Angels
- Hopewell Ventures
- Intel Capital (West Coast Office)
- Investor Growth Capital (New York Office)
- KB Partners
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- MK Capital
- Merrick Ventures
- Momentum Capital Partners
- Motorola Ventures
- New World Ventures
- OCA Ventures
- Origin Ventures
- Portage Ventures
- Prism Capital
- Start-Up Partners
- Sterling Venture Partners
- Stratus Ventures
- Select Area Angel Investors
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In addition to the Venture Forum, the CEC facilitates several other events at which Chicagoland entrepreneurs can meet with investors and begin critical relationships with them.
The Venture Forum was a great opportunity in that it allowed us to present to eight of Chicago's top venture capitalists in a single meeting. I can't think of a more efficient way for us to gain that kind of exposure to so many top firms.
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— Joe Born, Neuros Technology
International, LLC
In November 2006, the CEC hosted the Angel/Seed Stage track at the 2006 Midwest Venture Summit, organized by the Illinois Venture Capital Association. Our efforts included selecting, coaching and assisting 15 companies to present their plans to one of two “tracks”: Technology/Consumer Products and Biotechnology/Nanotechnology. The CEC will host the same track at the upcoming March 2008 Midwest Venture Summit.
In November 2007, the CEC hosted the inaugural Early Stage Marketplace, in partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology and DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. The Early Stage Marketplace will be an extension of the Venture Forum series, aimed to assist early stage high-growth companies. The CEC will select and coach 10 early stage high-growth companies to present their businesses to an audience of investors with the goal of raising angel and venture capital.
Contact Information:
Melissa Talarico
(312) 494-6728
melissa@chicagolandec.org
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