DFX Intelligence
Venture Capital Intelligence
Firms, funds, partners, companies and rounds from sworn filings, firm sites and announcements, kept as a graph with a date and a source on every edge. Facts, inferences and estimates are labelled as such. A fund target is never a close, GAV is never dry powder, and a round size is never an investor’s check.
Firms / Chicago Ventures Fund Management, LLC
Chicago Ventures Fund Management, LLC
Multi-stage venture firmChicago, ILchicagoventures.comSEC venture capital fund adviserone firm, 4 filing advisers
This firm files as 4 advisers on chicagoventures.com: Chicago Ventures Fund GP, LLC, Chicago Ventures GP II, LLC, Chicago Ventures GP III, LLC. Each keeps its own CRD, funds and filings; the grouping is the website each swore to on Form ADV and is recomputed every pass.
Chicago Ventures leads seed investments in overlooked teams.
both early and growth/opportunity families, reported GAV $386M
Importance
31
moderate
Active deployment
4
low
Emerging
0
low
Completeness
81
high
Freshness
100
high
Research priority
4
low
Identity and regulatory footprint
- Headquarters
- Chicago, ILadviserinfo.sec.gov
- Office address
- 222 MERCHANDISE MART PLAZA, SUITE 1212, Chicago, IL, 60654adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Business phone
- 312-300-4650adviserinfo.sec.gov
- SEC adviser type
- exempt reporting adviseradviserinfo.sec.gov
- SEC exemption claimed
- venture capital fund adviseradviserinfo.sec.govItem 2.B(1): advises solely venture capital funds
- Latest Form ADV
- Mar 27, 2026
- Private funds reported
- 6 (6 venture capital funds)adviserinfo.sec.gov
- Private fund gross assets
- $423Madviserinfo.sec.govreported GAV of the funds, the adviser's own number; not fund size, not dry powder
- Owners on Schedule A
- Twin Enterprises, LLC (Member), C; 185 Ventures, LLC (Member), C; Mudbug Holdings, LLC (Member), C
- business email
- info@chicagoventures.comchicagoventures.compublished by the subject
- business phone
- 312-300-4650adviserinfo.sec.govpublished by the subject
Stated thesis versus observed behaviour
1 observed deals
Stated (the firm’s website)
- Sectors
- ai, enterprise software, fintech, healthcare, consumer, marketplaces, proptech, logistics, media
- Stages
- seed, series a, series b
- Geography
- chicago, globally, north america
- Check size
- not stated; DFX does not estimate checks from round sizes
Observed (from deals on record)
Stage at participation: no observed deals yet
Stage at first entry: no observed deals yet
Sectors
Other Technology 100%
lead rate n/afollow-on rate n/anew logos, 12 months 1
Funds and vehicles
7 reported
| Vehicle | Type | Vintage | Lifecycle | Reported GAV | Owners | Form D sold | Latest Form D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Ventures GP III, LLC | Fund | 2019 form d first sale | Mature | unknown | unknown | $57.8M of $75.0M | May 21, 2020 |
| Chicago Ventures Fund II, L.P. | Fund | 2015 form d first sale | Harvest | $201M Jun 4, 2024 | 72 | $60.4M of $60.4M | Oct 31, 2016 |
| Chicago Ventures Founders Fund, L.P. | Fund | 2015 form d first sale | Harvest | $21.5M Jun 4, 2024 | 10 | $5.7M of $5.7M | Oct 31, 2016 |
| Chicago Ventures Fund, L.P. | Fund | 2012 form d first sale | Harvest | $76.8M Jun 4, 2024 | 73 | $40.0M of $45.0M | Jun 14, 2013 |
| Chicago Ventures Fund III, L.P. | Fund | unknown | Unknown | $59.7M Jun 4, 2024 | 56 | unknown | unknown |
| Chicago Ventures Opportunity Fund, LP | Opportunity fund | unknown | Unknown | $19.6M Jun 4, 2024 | 36 | $0 of $25.0M | Feb 2, 2022 |
| Chicago Ventures Fund IV, LP | Fund | unknown | Unknown | $6.9M Jun 4, 2024 | 39 | $0 of $65.0M | Feb 2, 2022 |
GAV is the gross asset value the adviser reported on Form ADV for the vehicle, never the fund’s committed size and never dry powder. Form D sold is the amount sold as of the latest filing, never a final close.
Investment team
9 current, 0 departed
Ford Johnstone
AssociateAssociate
Eric Duboe
PartnerPartner
Kevin Willer
PartnerMember And Manager · since Mar 1, 2010
Lindsay Knight
PartnerPartner
Rob Chesney
PartnerPartner
Robert George Chesney
PartnerMember And Manager · since Dec 1, 2015
Stuart Larkins
PartnerMember And Manager · since Nov 1, 2011
Stuart Larkins
PartnerPartner
Kevin Willer
Venture partnerVenture Partner
Investments on record
1 edges, 1 companies, 1 partner-attributed
| Company | Round | Role | Partner | Round size | This investor | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligent Legal Solutions (ILS), Inc. | board seat | unknown · board | Eric Duboe (strongly supported) | unknown | unknown | Jun 2, 2026 | Inference SEC EDGAR Form D data sets (quarterly) |
“This investor” is the amount disclosed for this investor alone; it is unknown unless a source said it. The round size is the whole round.
Co-investors
0 relationships from shared deals, counted for the whole firm
No co-investor relationship yet: these are derived only from rounds and portfolio listings the graph has seen both investors on.
Limited partners
0 disclosed
No LP commitment on record. An LP edge needs a public disclosure with a quote: a pension report (see Limited partners for the plans read), a fund announcement naming the LP, or a Form ADV owner. The fund page carries the LP’s reported performance.
Timeline
3 dated events
- Jun 8, 2022Chicago Ventures Fund Management, LLC first filed Form ADV (ERA, venture capital fund adviser exemption)First SEC adviser filingOrganizationFactSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Jun 8, 2022Chicago Ventures Opportunity Fund, LP first reported on Form ADV by Chicago Ventures Fund Management, LLC (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $19,641,414Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactChicago Ventures Opportunity Fund, LPSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
- Jun 8, 2022Chicago Ventures Fund IV, LP first reported on Form ADV by Chicago Ventures Fund Management, LLC (Venture Capital Fund), GAV $32,752,525Fund first reported on Form ADVFundsFactChicago Ventures Fund IV, LPSEC Form ADV filing data 2011 to 2024 (every filing, Schedule D 7.B.(1) private funds, Schedules A/B)
Classification history
- Sep 12, 2026Multi-stage venture firm (confirmed, 95%, cls-1)both early and growth/opportunity families, reported GAV $386M
Evidence
48 observations from 3 sources