Chicago:Blend, a non-profit organization on a mission to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Chicago’s venture capital and startup community, announced today the findings of its 2023 Founder Diversity Report.
Read More
In honor of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (November 19), Chicago:Blend is featuring two local tech founders who we met through GET Cities Chicago’s Seed Founder Cohort. For our second spotlight, we’re introducing Corinne Vargas, CEO and Founder of SMARTCharts, a patient-first, clinician-driven productivity app serving care teams in speech, occupational and physical therapy.
Read More
In honor of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (November 19), Chicago:Blend is featuring two local tech founders who we met through GET Cities Chicago’s Seed Founder Cohort. First up is Luisa Castellanos, the Co-Founder and COO of Science On Call, which provides 24/7 tech support for restaurants.
Read More
To date, 88% of Fellows seeking new opportunities secured a new opportunity (including business school), and 81% of Fellows seeking a VC role have landed a job (or offer) in VC.
Read More
Fearless Fund was prohibited from closing its application window on September 30 by an appeals court following a lawsuit from The American Alliance for Equal Rights. Joey Mak, CEO of Chicago:Blend, a nonprofit working to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the Chicago region's venture capital industry, joins Caroline Hyde on "Bloomberg Technology." (Source: Bloomberg)
Read More
“During the same time as our class, Sam was also involved with the Chicago:Blend venture fellowship, where he connected with venture capitalists, including members of my firm, Impact Engine.”
Read More
The non-profit organization Chicago:Blend today released findings from their 2022 VC Diversity Report, which measures demographic trends among employees at Chicago-area venture capital firms. The data shows that despite notable gains in the share of women, Black and Asian professionals working at local VC firms from 2021-22, Chicago continues to fall short in key areas when compared to national rates.
Read More
Among the pilot programs that will get new funding is the Chicago Venture Fellows led by Chicago:Blend. Backed by Chicago:Blend and Melinda Gates' GET Cities, Chicago Venture Fellows launched in 2021 as a way to train aspiring venture capitalists from underrepresented backgrounds.
Read More
The other pilot programs receiving funding include Chicago Venture Fellows (Chicago:Blend), TechRise and TechChicago (P33), Travel Funding and Entrepreneur Exchange (World Business Chicago), and Venture Engine Executive Founders Series (Illinois Science and Technology Coalition).
Read More
Hear from Maddy Rudder of TechNexus and Rachel Mackey of OCA Ventures about the launch of V2:VC, a peer community for rising VCs in Chicago
Read More
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), the leading voice for the nation’s VC and startup community, and their 501(c)(3) organization Venture Forward, announced today that Chicago:Blend has been selected to receive the 2023 NVCA DEI Impact Award, which recognizes individuals, organizations or firms who have made a significant impact toward advancing equity in venture.
Read More
Bess Goodfellow is passionate about empowering founders as they build transformative companies. As a Principal, Bess is tasked with sourcing high growth companies across the Midwest and supporting those investments through their lifecycle. Her portfolio of investments spans a broad spectrum of industry including enterprise, fintech, consumer, and digital health.
Read More
We are delighted to introduce our Spring 2023 Chicago Venture Fellows! From February 1 to May 10, these aspiring venture capitalists will get a crash course in venture finance and learn from Chicago’s top VCs and tech leaders, all while gaining real-world experience sourcing and evaluating deal flow.
Read More
Chicago’s venture capital industry is 78% men and 66% white. Chicago:Blend wants to change that. The local organization first launched in 2018 as a collaborative effort by venture capitalists in Chicago to measure and increase diversity, equity and inclusion at Chicago VC firms.
Read More
We are excited to introduce our Fall 2022 Chicago Venture Fellows! For the next four months, these aspiring venture capitalists will get a crash course in venture finance and learn from Chicago’s top VCs and tech leaders, all while sourcing deals to pitch to local investors.
Read More
Cristin Pacifico is a Director on the investment team at TechNexus Venture Collaborative, where she drives innovation by connecting corporations with startups. Throughout her career, she’s been an investor, an entrepreneur, and an operator.
Read More
CHICAGO–The non-profit organization Chicago:Blend announced today that Tessa Flippin of Capitalize VC and Jason Mercer of Cleveland Avenue have joined their governing board of directors following a unanimous vote by the organization’s existing directors.
Read More