Company lists · Data refreshed September 2026
Top 25 Business development companies based in Chicago, United States
RevenueBase identified 55 business development companies headquartered in Chicago, United States as of September 2026 and tracks 3,276 professional contacts across them, including 1,717 with verified work emails. New York is the largest hub.
This list covers business development companies headquartered in Chicago, United States, matched on what each company actually does as described in its own words. Ranked by team size, largest first. Every row shows the company's own description, its RevenueBase Smart Search rating, and when it was last checked. Data refreshed September 19, 2026.
Published by RevenueBase, a B2B data infrastructure company. This list was built with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search RevenueBase customers use to build their own targeted lists and unlock verified emails and direct dials at the companies on them. How these lists are built and judged.
The 25 largest business development companies based in Chicago, United States
Ranked by team size| # | Company | Contacts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,489 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Lincoln International, Inc.(NYSE: LCLN) is a trusted investment banking advisor to business owners and senior executives of leading private equity firms and their portfolio…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 2 | 504 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “BDT & MSD Partners is a merchant bank serving founders, family business owners, and long-term strategic investors.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 3 | 435 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Ziegler is a privately held investment bank, capital markets and proprietary investments firm.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 4 | 207 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Livingstone is an international mid-market M&A and debt advisory firm with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Chicago, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Los Angeles, Madrid…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 5 | 173 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Portage Point is a business advisory, interim management and investment banking firm intensely focused on the middle market.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 6 | 69 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Arete Wealth is a diversified financial services firm with more than $6.8B in assets under management.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 7 | 58 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Peakstone is the trusted partner and leading force in the lower middle market U.S.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 8 | 53 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Houlihan Capital is a leading, solutions-driven valuation, financial advisory and investment banking firm committed to delivering superior client value and thought leadership in…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 9 | 43 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “CIVC Partners is a private equity firm, based in Chicago, focused on middle market buyout, recapitalization, and growth equity investments in industry sectors where our firm can…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 10 | 37 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “OFS Management is a group of affiliated companies that provides investment management services, focusing on debt financing solutions to North American corporations.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 11 | 26 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “The Copia Group is a diverse-owned investment adviser that provides debt and equity capital solutions to privately held, lower middle-market, U.S-based companies.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 12 | 17 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Auctus Capital Partners is a leading financial services and investment banking firm focused exclusively on creating value for the lower middle market.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 13 | 15 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “After 15 successful years, The Chicago Corporation (TCC) will be winding down operations at year end 2024.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 14 | 12 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “HMA is founded on the principles of sound advice and excellent service.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 15 | 12 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Davis Capital is a transaction driven firm and focuses on creating, initiating, negotiating, structuring, and closing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, management buyouts…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 16 | 10 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Complex business challenges require a proven team of skilled professionals.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 17 | 9 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Artemis is a lower middle market investment banking firm specializing in the sale of privately held business as well as assisting in financing growth and executing acquisitions.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 18 | 8 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Founded in Triton Capital Partners provides creative, practical and affordable investment and merchant banking solutions to privately held middle market companies.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 19 | 6 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Pendo Advisors, LLC ("Pendo") which takes the name from the latin word "value" is a boutique investment banking services firm focused on providing institutional quality business…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 20 | 6 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “InterOcean Advisors LLC has been merged into Toronto-based Origin Merchant Partners which is a leading specialty investment bank with a proven track record of providing successful…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 21 | 5 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “We deliver middle market expertise to entrepreneurs, financial sponsors and large corporations, customizing advice and programs to help clients maximize corporate growth and value…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 22 | 3 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Synetro Group is a non-traditional private investment and strategic advisory firm.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 23 | 2 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Concord Financial Advisors, LLC is a investment banking and financial advisory firm serving public and private middle market companies that require a seasoned debt placement…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 24 | 2 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “Hubbard Woods Capital Advisors LLC is a corporate finance consultancy and intermediary dedicated to helping middle market companies obtain the debt capital they need to execute…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 25 | 2 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Drummers Limited is a business development organization and investment firm helping guide companies through a hands-on approach to build businesses from concept to market and…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 19, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
RevenueBase Smart Search
RevenueBase Smart Search assesses information from a company’s LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website, and other publicly available sources. It uses that information to rate how closely the company relates to this list’s category: business development companies. Every row carries its rating and the description the rating was read from, so each one can be checked rather than taken on trust.
- Strong evidence
- The company's own public description of its business names business development companies.
- Partial evidence
- Its own public description names part of business development companies, so it works in or next to the category without describing itself that way.
- Indirect evidence
- The description shown does not name business development companies. The match rests on the rest of the company's public profile rather than the one sentence quoted here, so this is the rating to check first.
RevenueBase Smart Search is how these lists are built: RevenueBase's data engine and AI assemble the companies that match a category defined in a user's own words, so a list can be about what companies actually do rather than about whichever industry code they were filed under.
Showing 25 of 55 business development companies based in Chicago, United States
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Business development companies based in Chicago, United States at a glance
As of Sep 19, 2026Companies by employee count
Email recency for this list is measured across the whole United States list rather than for Chicago, so it is reported there. Company counts and contact totals on this page are exact for Chicago, over 55 companies.
How this list was built
Company categories are rarely black and white. RevenueBase reads each company's own description of its business to decide whether it belongs among business development companies, so some rows will be adjacent to the category rather than pure plays. The description and RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row are there so you can check each match yourself.
- Source
- The RevenueBase company graph: 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts resolved from primary sources, queried with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search available to every RevenueBase user.
- What qualifies
- Companies headquartered in Chicago, United States whose own description of what they do matches “business development companies”. Matching reads each company's description, not its industry code or its name.
- RevenueBase Smart Search
- RevenueBase Smart Search is how this list is assembled and how each row is rated. RevenueBase's data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to a category defined in a user's own words. Each row is rated strong evidence (its own description names business development companies), partial evidence (it names part of the category) or indirect evidence (the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile). The description supporting each rating is quoted on the row.
- What we exclude
- Companies whose own description does not clearly place them among business development companies, and records with no verified work email. Companies headquartered outside Chicago are excluded even when they keep an office there.
- Match quality
- In blind human judging of this matching method, 86% of matched companies were on target. Expect roughly 1 in 7 rows to be adjacent to the category rather than a pure play. Every row shows the company's own description and its RevenueBase Smart Search rating so you can judge each match yourself. Read the full methodology: how the lists are built, how the judging worked, and what the figure means.
- Ranking
- Team size, largest first: companies are ordered by the number of professionals RevenueBase tracks at each one. Employee ranges shown are reported bands, for context.
- Verification
- Every listed company carries at least one verified work email, 1,717 across the full list. Contacts re-verify on a rolling cadence, and each contact's own verification date is shown inside RevenueBase.
- Refresh
- This page's figures were pulled from the company graph on September 19, 2026. Lists refresh periodically as the graph is re-checked.
- Corrections
- Wrong category, wrong headquarters, or a company that has closed? Use “Report an issue” on any row. Reports go to the RevenueBase Data Team and feed back into the company graph.
Business development companies by metro in the United States
- Business development companies in New York189
- Business development companies in Chicago55
- Business development companies in Dallas41
- Business development companies in Houston34
- Business development companies in Los Angeles34
- Business development companies in Miami25
Frequently asked
What is RevenueBase Smart Search?
RevenueBase Smart Search is how RevenueBase decides which companies belong on this list and how strongly each one fits. Its data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to the category the list is about. Each row is rated strong evidence when the company's own description names business development companies, partial evidence when it names part of the category, and indirect evidence when the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile.
How many business development companies are there based in Chicago, United States?
RevenueBase identified 55 business development companies headquartered in Chicago, United States as of September 2026, matched on each company's own description of what it does rather than its industry code.
What is the largest company on this list?
Lincoln International, headquartered in Chicago, tops this list with the largest team on record.
Which city has the most business development companies?
New York leads with 189 headquartered companies, followed by Chicago (55) and Dallas (41).
How do I get contact information for these companies?
A free RevenueBase account lets you run this exact search and work the top results, verified emails and direct dials included. Upgrading unlocks all 1,717 verified decision-maker contacts tracked across these 55 companies.
How current is this list?
The list refreshes periodically as the company graph is re-checked. This page's figures were pulled on September 19, 2026.
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About this data
RevenueBase is a B2B data infrastructure company. Its company graph covers 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts, with emails verified on a rolling cadence rather than scraped once and left to decay. These company lists are generated directly from that graph with RevenueBase Smart Search, the same natural-language company search every RevenueBase user has: describe a market in plain words, get the companies that match, and add verified emails and direct dials for the people at them. It is the same data that powers RevenueBase's B2B data products, and a free account includes 500 credits to start. How these lists are built and judged.
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