The Beat: New UChicago VC fund targets deep-tech startups
Welcome to Chicago Inno's The Beat, a twice-weekly look at the people, companies and ideas that are shaping Chicago's innovation economy.
The Big One
A new $25M venture capital fund launched Thursday to support the deep-tech ventures coming out of the University of Chicago ecosystem.
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Harper Court Ventures — funded through UChicago and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and independently managed by MFV Partners — will focus on scaling pre-seed and seed-stage companies associated with the university's labs, the Polsky Center or alumni. Investors in the fund include the UChicago Endowment as well as several members of UChicago's Board of Trustees.
The fund will target startups in high-impact sectors, such as those working on quantum computing, life sciences, energy and artificial intelligence innovations.
READ MORE: $25M VC fund launches to back UChicago deep-tech startups
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On its 10-year anniversary, Chicago venture capital firm M25 announced its largest fund to date.
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Drive Capital returns $500M to investors
In a single week, Drive Capital returned about $500M in cash and stock to investors during a lull in liquidity for limited partners nationwide.
The Columbus, Ohio-based venture capital firm, which set up a Chicago office in 2023, last Friday distributed two-thirds of its shares of Root Inc., worth nearly $140 million, to outside limited partners in its first fund from 2013, according to SEC filings.
READ MORE: Drive Capital returns $500 million to investors amid national liquidity lull
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