Lightbank

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Lightbank is a financial organization that specializes in making venture capital investments in "disruptive" technology companies in the United States including seed investments, Series A round and late-stage investments.[1][2][3][4][5] It combines investment with guidance and direct involvement with the companies it invests in. Unlike most such companies, it does not concentrate on Silicon Valley, but has a presence across the United States. It was founded by Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky. It is headquartered in Chicago and it has made investments in companies in Chicago, New York City, Omaha and the Bay Area.[2]

Lightbank
Company typeFinancial organization/venture fund
Industryfinance
Founded2010
Founder
Headquarters,
Key people
Websitelightbank.com

Investments

Lightbank has invested in a number of companies,[6] including the deal-of-the-day website Groupon. Lightbank's Eric Lefkofsky was an original co-founder, along with Andrew Mason of Groupon.[7]

Other Lightbank investments include Sprout Social, Snapsheet, Belly,[8] Boom Technology,[9] Fiverr,[citation needed] Fooda, SpotHero,[10] Tempus, Udemy,[11] test preparation service BenchPrep, Qwiki, HighGround,[6] and Hello Divorce.[12]

Partners

Lefkofsky was a co-founder of Lightbank, though he became 'Special Advisor' in 2014-2015 during his tenure as CEO of Groupon. He then returned to Lightbank as managing partner in November 2015 after stepping down as CEO of Groupon.[13]

Other partners include Eric Ong, Matt Sacks, and Bill Pescatello.

See also

  • Venture builders

References

  1. ^ Rogers, Bruce (2012-10-24). "How Chicago-Based Lightbank Is Fixing A Broken VC Model". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  2. ^ a b Rao, Leena (2012-12-23). "Lightbank Aims To Change The VC Game As It Expands Its Investments Beyond Chicago". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  3. ^ Baverman, Laura (2012-12-20). "Lightbank and Kleiner Perkins create Windy City vs. Silicon Valley design fight". Bizjournals. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  4. ^ Marek, Lynne (2012-06-11). "Lightbank shines on more startups". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  5. ^ Ricketts, Camille (2010-03-15). "Groupon founders launch $100M 'Lightbank' fund to seed Chicago startups". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2012-12-24.
  6. ^ a b "Portfolio". Lightbank. Retrieved 2012-12-25.
  7. ^ Business Insider "INSIDE GROUPON: The Truth About The World's Most Controversial Company" October 31, 2011
  8. ^ Truong, Alice (2013-08-27). "Belly Raises $12.1 Million To Replace Loyalty Cards With Its App". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  9. ^ Inc, Boom Technology. "Japan Airlines and Boom Announce Partnership for Supersonic Air Travel". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-02-28. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ "Investors park $4.5 million in SpotHero". Crain's Chicago Business. 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  11. ^ Wolinsky, David. "Lightbank Gives $3 Million in Financing to Udemy". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  12. ^ "Hello Divorce raises $2M so that couples can say 'good-bye' easier". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  13. ^ Sky, Blue. "Lefkofsky lands back at Lightbank after stepping down as Groupon CEO". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2016-06-13.