Illinois Ventures is a venture firm founded in 2000, affiliated with the University of Illinois System and based in Chicago and Champaign. Over 25 years, it has backed more than 125 early-stage companies founded by alumni, faculty and students, offering capital, mentorship and operational guidance from lab prototypes to market-ready offerings. Portfolio firms have attracted over $2.7 billion in outside funding, spanning areas such as cancer therapeutics, advanced materials and agricultural technology. By combining financial support with access to an extensive network of researchers and industry experts, the firm aims to nurture ventures through each phase of growth toward a successful exit.
The firm invests at pre-seed, seed and Series A stages across engineering, biotechnology, agri-tech, advanced computing, quantum technologies and instrumentation. Its Deep Tech Fund supports science-driven startups, Illini Angels empowers ventures led by University of Illinois alumni, and the Pre-Seed Fund backs emerging high-tech projects. Notable portfolio companies include Revolution Medicines, which develops cancer therapies; EarthSense, a provider of autonomous agriculture robots; and OCIENT, a platform for data analytics on compute-intensive workloads. Across these programs, Illinois Ventures offers strategic advice and operational support to help founders scale and tackle early challenges.
Clean technology is a core emphasis of its Deep Tech Strategic Venture Fund, introduced in 2024 to support sustainable energy, advanced materials and related fields. Through this platform, Illinois Ventures has backed Natrion, a solid-state electric vehicle battery developer, via Illini Angels, underscoring its interest in safer, longer-range and faster-charging battery systems. The firm’s approach combines capital with introductions to researchers, manufacturing partners and industry mentors, helping startups in clean energy and adjacent sectors refine their products and advance toward commercial success.
