Company lists · Data refreshed September 2026

Top 25 Venture backed startups based in Chicago, United States

Name: Venture backed startups based in Chicago, United States
Creator: RevenueBase
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Compiled by the RevenueBase Data Team Data refreshed Sep 22, 2026 181 companies tracked

RevenueBase identified 181 venture backed startups headquartered in Chicago, United States as of September 2026 and tracks 1,616 professional contacts across them, including 597 with verified work emails. New York is the largest hub.

This list covers venture backed startups 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 22, 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.

How to read this list HQ checked on every row RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row Refreshed Sep 22, 2026 86% judged on-target in blind review

181Companies

1,616Contacts tracked

597Verified emails

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The 25 largest venture backed startups based in Chicago, United States

Ranked by team size

Top 25 of 181 venture backed startups based in Chicago, United States, ranked by team size, largest first. Data refreshed Sep 22, 2026. RevenueBase Smart Search rates how each company's information relates to venture backed startups: strong evidence (its own description names it), partial (names part of it), indirect (matched on the rest of its profile rather than the description shown). Click a contact count to view that company's people.
#	Company	RevenueBase Smart Search	Headquarters	Employees	Contacts
1	Waud Capital Partners	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	82 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “Based in Chicago, Waud Capital Partners is a leading growth-oriented private equity firm.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
2	Portal Innovations	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	67 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Portal Innovations is a premier venture development engine that bridges scientific ideation in life sciences, medtech, and bioinformatics through commercial proof of concept by…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
3	Arch Venture Partners	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	62 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Early stage venture firm focused on life science discoveries to prevent, detect and cure disease.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
4	First Analysis	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	59 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “For over 40 years, First Analysis has been at the forefront of supporting emerging growth companies and established leaders across high-growth, technology-driven sectors.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
5	HPA	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	56 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “HPA is a leading early-stage investor.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
6	G Squared	Strong evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	54 contacts →
	Strong evidence “Founded in 2011, G Squared is aligned to a fundamental shift: venture-backed companies are staying private longer.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
7	Baird Capital	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	49 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Baird Capital makes venture capital, growth equity and private equity investments in strategically targeted sectors around the world.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
8	Irishangels	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	n/a	47 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “IrishAngels is a Notre Dame inspired angel investing group for experienced operators, executives, and founders who want to invest thoughtfully in early-stage companies and stay…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
9	OCA Ventures	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	n/a	38 contacts →
	Partial evidence “We're a hands-on, collaborative, and entrepreneur friendly early stage venture capital firm.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
10	Hyde Park Venture Partners	Strong evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	n/a	33 contacts →
	Strong evidence “Hyde Park Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth, mid-continent technology startups.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
11	Abundant Venture Partners	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	201-500	31 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Abundant Venture Partners was founded on the belief that healthcare’s most important challenges are too complex for any organization to solve alone.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
12	Technexus Venture Collaborative	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	30 contacts →
	Partial evidence “TechNexus Venture Collaborative (TechNexus) invests in relationships between leading corporations and ambitious entrepreneurs to Rethink Growth™.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
13	Moderne Ventures	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	30 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Moderne Ventures invests in technology companies in and around real estate, finance, insurance, home services and sustainability.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
14	Vitalize Venture Capital	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	29 contacts →
	Partial evidence “VITALIZE Venture Capital is a pre-seed and seed-stage venture fund and angel community investing in the future of work.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
15	Prairie Capital	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	25 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “Prairie Capital is a private equity firm focused on guiding high-potential, founder-owned companies on the journey to becoming scalable platforms prepared for accelerated growth.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
16	Lightbank	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	24 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “Disruptive technology investors.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
17	2flo Ventures	Strong evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	23 contacts →
	Strong evidence “2Flo Ventures is a startup studio and venture capital firm dedicated to accelerating impactful innovation in healthcare.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
18	Jump Capital	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	21 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Jump Capital is a founder-focused, low-ego early-stage venture firm investing in Fintech, application software, and infrastructure.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
19	R7	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	21 contacts →
	Partial evidence “R7 is an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in the untapped potential of physical industries within the new industrial economy.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
20	11 Tribes Ventures	Partial evidence	Chicago, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	19 contacts →
	Partial evidence “11 Tribes Ventures is an early-stage venture fund that proactively invests in the resilience of entrepreneurs.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
21	The 81 Collection	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	17 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “We are a collection of entrepreneurs who brought our offline industries online.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
22	7wire Ventures	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	16 contacts →
	Partial evidence “7wire Ventures is an early stage, healthcare venture fund.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
23	Origin Ventures	Partial evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	16 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Origin Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with extraordinary founders building the defining companies in the fifth economic era - the Artificial…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
24	53 Stations	Indirect evidence	Chicago, IL, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	16 contacts →
	Indirect evidence “We partner with founders for their journey ahead, investing with flexibility and scale to build companies that last.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
25	Corazon Capital	Strong evidence	Chicago, United StatesHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	16 contacts →
	Strong evidence “Born out of a love for building startups and a passion for backing entrepreneurs with heart, Corazon Capital (Spanish for “heart”), a leading Chicago-based venture fund, brings a…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026

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: venture backed startups. 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 venture backed startups.
Partial evidence: Its own public description names part of venture backed startups, so it works in or next to the category without describing itself that way.
Indirect evidence: The description shown does not name venture backed startups. 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 181 venture backed startups based in Chicago, United States

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Venture backed startups based in Chicago, United States at a glance

As of Sep 22, 2026

36.9%Verified-email coverage

8.9Average contacts per company

1-10Median size (employees)

434.3%Largest-city concentration · New York

Sep 22, 2026Page data refreshed

Companies by employee count

1-10

150

11-50

51-200

201-500

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 181 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 venture backed startups, 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 “venture backed startups”. 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 venture backed startups), 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 venture backed startups, 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, 597 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 22, 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.

Venture backed startups by metro in the United States

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 venture backed startups, 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 venture backed startups are there based in Chicago, United States?

RevenueBase identified 181 venture backed startups 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?

Waud Capital Partners, headquartered in Chicago, tops this list with the largest team on record.

Which city has the most venture backed startups?

New York leads with 786 headquartered companies, followed by San Francisco (670) and Los Angeles (227).

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 597 verified decision-maker contacts tracked across these 181 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 22, 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.