| Date | Title | Description |
| 31.10.2024 | Pathos AI: Pioneering the Future of Drug Development with $62M Boost | In the bustling heart of Chicago, a biotechnology company is reshaping the landscape of drug development. Pathos AI has recently secured $62 million in an oversubscribed Series C funding round. This infusion of capital is not just a financi... |
| 30.10.2024 | Pathos AI Closes $62M Series C Funding | Pathos AI, a Chicago, IL-based clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on re-engineering drug development through artificial intelligence, raised $62M in Series C funding.
The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) with parti... |
| 17.06.2024 | Former Airbnb Execs Back Subletting Startup in NYC | Ezra Gershanok and Jacob Halbert had made almost nothing in sales for their apartment subleasing startup until this spring.
Then, they say, the platform got 1,000 new listings in New York City in just two months, and sales jumped to $1.2 mi... |
| 14.06.2024 | Ex-Groupon CEO raises $411 million in IPO for medicine data company | figcaption>span]:font-sans" data-chromatic="ignore">
Tempus AI, a Chicago-based provider of data and analytics tools for precision medicine developers, raised $411 million in its IPO.
Why it matters: You probably didn't... |
| 03.02.2023 | Revolutionizing Employee Development: Stride Closes $750,000 Seed Investment Round, Led by Lightbank | Justin Cardillo, Stride CEO
Stride revolutionizes coaching with personalized, on-demand coaching for every employee, addressing unique needs and goals.
Stride makes coaching accessible for all employees, expanding access to training and dev... |
| 06.03.2021 | Lightbank Closes New Venture Capital Fund, At $180M | Lightbank, LLC, a Chicago, IL-based venture capital firm, closed its second early-stage venture capital fund, Lightbank II, L.P.. with $180m of capital commitments.
Lightbank II’s investor base is comprised of institutional investors, famil... |
| 10.11.2020 | The Woman Adapting The Microbiome Science Of Gut Health To Skincare | The skincare industry is exploding right now, with consumers spending an increased amount of time staring back at their own faces on screens throughout the day. Even prior to the pandemic, trends like clean beauty and skin fasting were pavi... |
| 17.03.2019 | 12 Chicago VCs You Should Know About | Chicago is quietly becoming a hotbed of venture capital that fuels technology startups — not just in Chicago but across the country and in a wide range of industries. For example, did you know that Calm, SpaceX, and Coinbase all received fu... |
| 05.10.2018 | Chicago’s Startups Continue to Lead the Nation in Returns | PitchBook revealed its 2018 Chicago VC Ecosystem report, released in conjunction with ChicagoNEXT’s Chicago Venture Summit. This report finds that Chicago continues to outpace other U.S. venture ecosystems — including the Bay Area — in medi... |
| 03.10.2018 | Chicago’s startups continue to lead the nation in returns | Today, PitchBook revealed its 2018 Chicago VC Ecosystem report, released in conjunction with ChicagoNEXT’s Chicago Venture Summit. This report finds that Chicago continues to outpace other U.S. venture ecosystems — including the Bay Area — ... |
| 03.10.2018 | Chicago’s startups continue to lead the nation in returns | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
Today, PitchBook revealed its 2018 Chicago VC Eco... |
| 08.03.2018 | Chicago’s strongest startup sector is online marketplaces like Groupon and OpenTable | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
As an investment leader in Chicago, I get asked a... |
| 08.03.2018 | Chicago’s strongest startup sector is online marketplaces like Groupon and OpenTable | As an investment leader in Chicago, I get asked about startup trends on a regular basis. Most often the question I’m asked is, “What is the strongest startup sector in Chicago?”
It’s a hard question because one of Chicago’s core advantages ... |
| 08.03.2018 | Chicago’s strongest startup sector is online marketplaces
The foundations for today’s marketplace platforms
Success breeds success | As an investment leader in Chicago, I get asked about startup trends on a regular basis. Most often the question I’m asked is, “What is the strongest startup sector in Chicago?” |
| 25.09.2017 | Groupon’s billionaire cofounder Eric Lefkofsky just raised $70 million for his new company | Chicago billionaire Eric Lefkofsky has started five companies, none of which would seem to lead him to found a company that’s trying to cure cancer. Yet investors just gave his newest, two-year-old concern, Tempus, $70 million in Series C f... |
| 07.07.2017 | Why Groupon’s cofounder is diving head first into healthcare | “It’s an amazing time,” he said in a recent phone interview. “We’ve seen several of these kinds of technology paradigm shifts evolve and what they can mean. From my perspective, what we’re about to see in biotech and genomics may be the big... |
| 21.02.2017 | Term Sheet — Tuesday, February 21 | “HIGH REGARD”
Welcome back from the long weekend, those of you who had yesterday off. Lots to catch up on:
Paid Content What you need to know about growing cyberattacks From ExtraHop
Last month’s political stumble pales in comparison to the... |
| 14.01.2017 | Why I’m NOT a ‘B2B SaaS’ investor | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
People often categorize me as a ‘B2B SaaS’ invest... |
| 14.01.2017 | Why I’m NOT a ‘B2B SaaS’ investor | People often categorize me as a ‘B2B SaaS’ investor, when in actuality I haven’t invested in a single SaaS company in years.
Why? Because I think it’s really hard for a traditional SaaS company to be successful in today’s market.
Given the ... |
| 17.10.2016 | GREE Is Good: How PerBlue Sold Its DragonSoul to Japanese Firm | Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter LinkedIn Email Reprints
Earlier this month, PerBlue, a Madison, WI-based developer of games that can be downloaded and played on mobile devices, said that it had sold the rights to one of its games, ... |
| 25.09.2016 | Nyca Partners Joins $2.5M Seed Round for Zero | Zero, a startup building a new mobile banking experience with transformative functionality, economics and features, announced that it raised a $2.5 million seed round led by ENIAC Ventures, with New Enterprise Associates, Nyca Partners, Lig... |
| 25.09.2016 | NEA Joins $2.5M Seed Round for Zero | Zero, a startup building a new mobile banking experience with transformative functionality, economics and features, announced that it raised a $2.5 million seed round led by ENIAC Ventures, with New Enterprise Associates, Nyca Partners, Lig... |
| 06.09.2016 | A Dorm Room Entrepreneur's Guide to the Chicago Tech Ecosystem | World changing ventures from Facebook to Dropbox, as well as local startups Moneythink to UProspie, were started by university students. And as entrepreneurial energy on campus is only growing, we have to wonder: who will be the next dorm r... |
| 23.08.2016 | RiskMatch receives a boost | CT-based RiskMatch, a portfolio management and analytics platform, has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Lightbank, known for its previous investment in Snapsheet, the one with the app that lets drivers send damaged auto selfies for ... |
| 05.07.2016 | First international Botathon picks up steam: Apply by Friday, July 8! | We’re delighted to announce that the international Botathon VentureBeat has organized with a group of regional partners is off to an excellent start.
We’ve already received well over 100 solid applications from participants after our first ... |
| 29.06.2016 | SF, New York, Austin, Chicago, Toronto, and Melbourne: VB’s Botathon is coming to your town! | The innovations coming out of the bot and messaging space are starting to explode.
How about a bot that turns your text into video? Or celebrity bots that can convincingly assume the personality of said famous person? Or a chatbot as your n... |
| 29.06.2016 | SF, New York, Austin, Chicago, Toronto, and Melbourne: VB’s Botathon is coming to your town! | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
The innovations coming out of the bot and messagi... |
| 03.02.2016 | Learn When to Raise Venture Capital or Bootstrap | Join Hyde Park Angels at 1871 on Thursday, March 3 from 6:00 pm — 8:00 pm to learn from the seasoned entrepreneurs and investors behind Chicago’s biggest startups, including SkinnyPop, dough, cleverbridge, Geofeedia, and others. Hear how th... |
| 01.12.2015 | Eric Lefkofsky Comes Back to Lightbank as Managing Partner | Groupon Chairman and Co-founder Eric Lefkofsky has come back to his position of Managing Partner at Chicago-based venture capital firm Lightbank.
Launched in 2010 along with Managing Partner Brad Keywell, Lightbank has made venture capital ... |
| 11.10.2015 | You’re Not In The Valley Anymore | Rick Zullo Contributor
Rick Zullo is vice president of LightBank.
My friend and fellow investor Jon Lehr of Work-Bench recently wrote a piece entitled “7 Lessons Learned in My First 2 Years as a VC.” Jon and I have known each other since be... |
| 14.09.2015 | 10 Chicago VC Firms You Need to Know About | Chicago is usually towards the top of the list when it comes to startup hubs in the United States. It's no surprise that Tech.Co had its first events in that city, (back when we were simply known as Tech Cocktail), providing demo space and ... |
| 09.07.2015 | Roniin Connects Experienced Entrepreneurs with New Blood | Paul Lee is an experienced entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He spent years investing in startups as a General Partner at Lightbank, and sat on the board of directors of many of them. All of this experience led him to do what comes natur... |
| 20.10.2014 | The Midwest Is On Track For Its Strongest Year In Startup Investing As “The Rest” Rises | From Chicago’s city of big shoulders to the new businesses bolstering Detroit’s renaissance; in Cleveland and Cincinnati and Kansas City and St. Louis, startup economies are flourishing across the Midwest.
The proof is in events like Steve ... |
| 05.09.2014 | Flywheel Raises $1.2M For Its Designer-Centric WordPress Hosting Platform | The open-source WordPress software runs a huge chunk of all of the sites on the Internet, so it’s no surprise that there’s also a massive ecosystem that has sprung up around the platform. These days, there’s a specialized WordPress service ... |
| 27.06.2014 | Sprout Social Keeps Growing and Raises $8 Million from Lightbank and NEA | Sprout keeps growing.
John Pelz at Crain's is reporting that Sprout Social has raised another $8 million from VCs Lightbank and New Enterprise Associates.
The one-stop-shop for social media monitoring and management, Sprout Social is lookin... |
| 29.05.2014 | Madison, WI-based Mobile Gaming Startup PerBlue Raises $3M | Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter LinkedIn Email Reprints
[Updated 5/30/14, 11:02 am. See below.] PerBlue, a Madison, WI-based mobile game developer, has raised $3 million in venture capital from investors, including Chicago-based Li... |
| 04.10.2013 | Amplify at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay is next week! | First come. First serve. Get complimentary tickets before they run out!
Girls in Tech, Thomson Reuters and Vator are holding Amplify next week. Amplify is an event focused on empowering women to take leadership roles in the entrepreneur eco... |
| 25.09.2013 | Calling all female entrepreneurs! Amplify is Oct. 8 | Join leading female investors and entrepreneurs at The Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, Oct. 8
Are you a female entrepreneur with a really cool company or idea? Do you want a chance to mingle with some top VCs (mostly women), such as Renata Q... |
| 28.08.2013 | Belly Announces $12.1 Million Series B-1 VC Funding | Loyalty rewards company Belly today announced that they secured $12.1 million in a Series B-1 round of venture capital financing from New Enterprise Associates, Andreessen Horowitz, DAG Ventures, Lightbank, Cisco, and 7-Ventures. That bring... |
| 07.08.2013 | Investors Cheer Groupon’s Appointment Of A CEO, Narrow Earnings Beat, Stock Buyback Program | Groupon today reported the appointment of Eric Lefkofsky as its CEO, Ted Leonsis as the Chairman of its board, revenue of $609 million in the second quarter, operating income of $59 million excluding stock compensation expenses, and non-GAA... |
| 16.07.2013 | TalentBin Raises $2M in Series A Funding | TalentBin, a San Francisco, CA-based “talent search engine”, raised $2m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Lightbank, with participation from New Enterprise Associates, Foundation Capital and FundersClub. In conjunction with the fund... |
| 03.05.2013 | Here Is How Not To Decorate Your Office | Image via Twitter, click to enlarge
Lightbank, the venerated Chicago-based venture capital firm, made a very good decision this morning: It’s removing these large-scale photos of people falling from buildings that have been hanging in its l... |
| 10.04.2013 | Lightbank Invests $650,000 In Walk.by, A New Platform Connecting Local Merchants With Online Shoppers By Way Of Smartphones | Lightbank has invested $650,000 in its own Founder-in-Residence Josh Hernandez’s new startup, Walk.by, a platform for bringing local merchants into the e-commerce world by way of smartphones. The company is today announcing the release of i... |
| 09.04.2013 | Sunnybump Raises $375k from Lightbank | According to TechCrunch (read here), Sunnybump, a Chicago, IL-based service that collects and curates products for newborns, raised $375k in funding from Lightbank.
Founded in 2012, the startup provides a service for new and expecting paren... |
| 29.03.2013 | Soundsupply Secures Seed Funding from Lightbank | Soundsupply, a Chicago, IL-based music startup, secured seed funding from venture capital firm Lightbank.
The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
The company intends to use the capital to expand its product and its “10 Albums for $15” conc... |
| 05.03.2013 | Select two travel destinations, GetGoing gives you one | YC-backed discount travel site opens up for the public this Wednesday
I love the Web for all the variety of business models that have emerged. One that's pretty innovative and game-like-exciting-and-frightening at the same time, is GetGoing... |
| 30.01.2013 | Groupon founders choose NYC for Lightbank’s second office | When it came time for VC firm Lightbank to open its first office outside of Chicago, its partners — including Groupon founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky — looked east to New York City, instead of Silicon Valley.
Today the venture capi... |
| 30.01.2013 | Lightbank Heads East, Opens Office In New York | As we reported a few weeks ago, VC firm Lightbank is looking to expand its investments beyond Chicago. The VC firm started by Groupon seed investors Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell is announcing its second location in the Flatiron neighborh... |
| 07.01.2013 | CES Is So Uncool It Might Finally Be Cool | Even though I once built a slideshow called “Gadget Porn and Actual Porn,” I have never been to CES. Because the fact is that, as every cool blogger has very creatively beat us over the head with today, CES is tragically unhip.
First of all... |
| 07.01.2013 | Ovuline Raises $1.4M in Seed Funding | Ovuline, a Boston, MA-based provider of in healthcare IT solutions for pregnancy, raised $1.4m in seed funding.
The round was led by Lightbank, with participation from Launch Capital, LionBird and Techstars founder and CEO David Cohen.
The ... |
| 23.12.2012 | Lightbank Aims To Change The VC Game As It Expands Its Investments Beyond Chicago | There’s a lot of talk about disruption in the venture capital world. We’ve discussed at length the shift that many VCs are making from simply writing a check to serving as a hands-on, end-to-end service driven by seasoned operators and form... |
| 08.12.2012 | Udemy Completes $12M Series B Financing | Udemy, a San Francisco, CA-based online education marketplace, has completed a $12m Series B financing.
The round, which brings total funding to $16m, was led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Lightbank... |
| 16.11.2012 | Lightbank-Backed Social Gifting Platform Boomerang Expands To 3 New Cities, Launches Mobile Apps | Boomerang, the Facebook-based gifting service that launched its beta test in Chicago earlier this year, just announced that it is now expanding beyond its initial market and making its first move toward launching its nationwide operations. ... |
| 12.11.2012 | DoubleDutch Raises $4M in Series B Funding | DoubleDutch, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of mobile CRM applications, has raised $4m in Series B funding.
The round was led by FLOODGATE Fund, with participation from Bullpen Capital and Lightbank.
In conjunction with the funding, Mi... |
| 12.10.2012 | Frank & Oak Closes $5M Series A Equity Funding | Frank & Oak, a Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based online clothing retailer for men, has closed a $5m Series A equity funding.
The round was led by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell’s Lightbank, with participation from Bertelsmann Digital Medi... |
| 11.10.2012 | Frank & Oak rescues men from perils of ‘shop til you drop’ | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
My Dad does not like to shop. Twice a year, he vi... |
| 05.09.2012 | Groupon insiders back a competitor [Update] | Flickr user Groupon
(MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY Groupon (GRPN) insiders have never been shy about looking out for their own interests. Among other moves, they took big cash-outs before the company went public, increasing Groupon's need to file ... |
| 14.08.2012 | Battle Bears creator SkyVu raises venture round for brand expansion (exclusive) | Did you miss a session from GamesBeat Summit 2022? All sessions are available to stream now. Learn more.
Aiming to deal with rising marketing costs and expand its reach into other media, mobile gaming firm SkyVu Entertainment has raised an ... |
| 14.08.2012 | Battle Bears creator SkyVu raises venture round for brand expansion (exclusive) | Aiming to deal with rising marketing costs and expand its reach into other media, mobile gaming firm SkyVu Entertainment has raised an undisclosed amount of money from Lightbank-led venture investors.
The game company has become famous over... |
| 19.04.2012 | Social events marketplace Lifecrowd raises $5M from Lightbank, Bullpen, others | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
Social events startup Lifecrowd has raised $5 mil... |
| 19.04.2012 | Social events marketplace Lifecrowd raises $5M from Lightbank, Bullpen, others | Social events startup Lifecrowd has raised $5 million in its first round of funding, with a goal to expand its evolving marketplace that connects like-minded users connect at nearby events, the company announced Thursday.
The service has co... |
| 05.01.2012 | BodyShopBids Raises $1M in Series A Funding | BodyShopBids, a Chicago, IL-based startup that provides a Web and mobile platform to connect consumers who need auto body repairs with body shops through a bidding system, has raised $1m in Series A funding.
The round was led by OCA Venture... |
| 12.10.2011 | Udemy gets $3M from Lightbank for online courses | The "Academy of You" gets support in democratizing learning
Not too long ago, Bill Gates said that in the future, all education will be online (he also implied that funding for the liberal arts and humanities should be cut, but I’... |
| 05.10.2011 | Hipster Changes Its Strategy, Now Wants You To Send Digital Postcards | Do we really need another location-based photo-sharing app?
Hipster, a service I’ve written about countless times, is unveiling its first open-to-all product today — and it is not, like we’ve written about and many anticipated, a local Q&am... |
| 04.10.2011 | Cloudbot app nabs $1 million in funding social tech | Lightbank funding could make contacting your friends on any platform easier
Slipping in just hours before the anticipated announcement of Apple’s iCloud, Cloudbot has secured just about $1 million in funding from Lightbank, with participati... |
| 04.10.2011 | Cloudbot Closes Funding Led by Lightbank | Cloudbot, a Chicago, IL-based developer of a mobile and web app that aggregates users’ online presence into a single interface, has closed a funding of undisclosed amount.
The round was led by Lightbank, with participation from Draper Assoc... |
| 27.09.2011 | BodyShopBids Closes Seed Funding from Lightbank | BodyShopBids, a Chicago, IL-based developer of a free online service that enables consumers to get auto repair estimates from local body shops, has closed a seed round of venture capital from Lightbank.
Founded in early 2011 by founder and ... |
| 19.09.2011 | Groupon Co-founders Purchase The Historic Wrigley Building | Today it was confirmed that the Wrigley Building has been purchased in a joint venture that includes investor Byron Trott of BDT Capital Partners, Zeller Realty Group and the co-founders of Groupon Inc., Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky. We ... |
| 30.08.2011 | E la Carte Closes $4M Venture Capital Round from Lightbank | E la Carte, the maker of a customer-facing tableside tablet for restaurant and related hospitality industries (Presto), has closed a $4m venture capital round from Lightbank.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its sales and supp... |
| 03.08.2011 | Mobile app WhosHere raises $1.25M for location-based social networking | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
The maker of social location-based service WhosHe... |
| 03.08.2011 | myRete Closes First External Financing Round with Lightbank | myRete, a San Mateo, CA and Alexandria, VA-based developer of a location-based social networking application called WhosHere®, has closed its first external financing round with Lightbank.
The company intends to use the funding, whose amoun... |
| 01.08.2011 | BabbaCo Closes $1.2M First Financing Round | BabbaCo, Inc., a Chicago, IL- online baby products retailer, has closed a $1.2m first financing.
The round was led by Lightbank, with participation from with Ron Conway and David Lee’s SV Angel.
Created in in 2007 by CEO Jessica Kim, BabbaC... |
| 14.06.2011 | Zaarly Crosses $1M In Jobs Posted, In Just Under A Month | In less than a month after its nationwide launch on May 14th, peer to peer marketplace Zaarly has crossed $1 million in posted transactions, and commemorated them with a colorful infographic depicting the break down of the early days of Zaa... |
| 07.06.2011 | Groupon founders invest $2.3M in online pawn shop Pawngo | Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell are investing a $2.3 million in online pawn shop startup Pawngo through their investment group LightBank.
Pawngo, which was previously named Internet Pawn, aims to fulfill a need in the marke... |
| 07.06.2011 | Lightbank ventures into online pawning | Pawngo is a low-interest, high-security alternative to pawning your goods online
Pawn shops are rarely brought up in conversation in a positive light. No one ever says jubilantly, “yeah, we weren’t able to pay the bills, so I had to pawn my... |
| 03.06.2011 | Onswipe Raises $5 M. Series Awesome from Lerer, ENIAC, Betaworks and More | TechStars NY grad Onswipe just announced its series Awesome, complete with an actual term sheet bearing that header.
The round will be led by Spark Capital and followed on by Lightbank, Yuri Milner, Lerer Ventures, SVAngel, Betaworks, Morad... |
| 02.06.2011 | Spark, Lightbank And Yuri Milner Get In On OnSwipe's $5M 'Series Awesome' | Tablet publishing platform Onswipe is announcing a $5 million round of “Series Awesome” funding today after their one million in seed funding in January. The round will be led by Spark Capital and followed on by Lightbank, investment badass... |
| 01.06.2011 | OpenChime Receives $700K in funding from Lightbank | OpenChime, a Chicago, IL-based that service that connects local service providers with consumers, has received $700k in funding from Lightbank.
Launched in 2010 by MIT graduates Erdem Kiciman (CEO) and Kale McNaney, OpenChime allows users t... |
| 01.06.2011 | OpenChime Nabs $700K From Groupon Founders | OpenChime, a startup that allows users to get online quotes and information from an array of local service providers, today announced that it has raised $700K in seed funding from Lightbank, the Chicago investment firm started by Groupon co... |
| 01.06.2011 | Lightbank backs OpenChime with $700K | The Angie's List for everything connects consumers and service providers
OpenChime, an Angie’s List for everything, is now officially watch-worthy. Why? Because Lightbank says so. OpenChime announced today that Lightbank, the fund made famo... |
| 26.05.2011 | Benzinga Raises $1.5M from Lightbank | Benzinga, a financial media source that delivers streaming news, trading ideas, commentary and analyst ratings, has closed a $1.5m first funding round with Lightbank.
The company intends to use the funds to add personnel and develop media t... |
| 23.05.2011 | gtrot.com Closes Series A Venture Capital Funding Round; Officially Launches | gtrot.com, a web site that uses the user’s social network to simplify travel sharing and planning, has officially launched today after closing a Series A venture capital funding round of undisclosed amount with Lightbank.
Co-founded by CEO ... |
| 16.05.2011 | Local Q&A Site Hipster Raises $1M From Google Ventures, Lightbank, 500 Startups And More | Local Q&A startup Hipster has raised $1 million in seed funding from some prominent angel Valley investors including Mitch Kapor, Dave McClure/500 Startups, Lightbank, Google Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Max Ventilla, TechStars Dav... |
| 13.05.2011 | Meet Lightbank's newest addition, Paul Lee | Lee explains his investment philosophy and why Groupon's swarm of clones prove Groupon's awesomeness
I recently got a chance to chat with Lightbank’s newest addition, Paul Lee, who joins the investment firm as its first outside Partner. I l... |
| 05.04.2011 | Groupon For Nightlife Poggled Raises $5.6M From Groupon Investors | Poggled, a Chicago-based daily deals site that focuses only on and club discounts, has just raised $5.6 million at a $33 million pre-money valuation according to an SEC form filed today. Well what’s interesting about this? As Fortune’s Dan ... |
| 31.03.2011 | Qwiki raises additional $1M for Series A | The startup gets extra funding from Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky
Qwiki, the rich media site that seeks to “forever improve the way people experience information," on Thursday announced the addition of another $1 ... |
| 31.03.2011 | Qwiki Raises $1M | Qwiki, a San Francisco, CA-based company that is developing a technology platform that transforms data into interactive, rich-media information experience, has raised an additional $1m in financing from Lightbank.
The company intends to use... |
| 11.03.2011 | The top 10 start-up billionaires | The world’s major economies may have struggled to get back to pre-GFC growth levels last year, but the world’s wealthiest people appear to have been nicely insulated.
According to Forbes’ annual billionaire rankings, the 1,200-strong list i... |
| 11.11.2010 | This Week in Social CRM: SugarCRM Goes Mobile, Sprout Adds Locations, Zoho Adds a Helpdesk and More | Social CRM remains the hottest topic in the world of enterprise 2.0 (or social business or whatever people want to call it this week). This week saw several developments in the space, and some interesting conversations as well. Paul Greenbe... |
| 10.11.2010 | Groupon founders invest $1M in Sprout Social | Lightbank is said to be gearing up to make the announcement Wednesday
Since Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Bradley Keywell created their investment fund Lightbank in March of this year, they have made three investments: $750K in tra... |
| 20.09.2010 | Betterfly Secures Venture Capital Funding from Lightbank | Betterfly, a New York-based company that operates a website that allow people who want to learn, look and feel better to find tutors, coaches, stylists, trainers who offer these services, has secured a Series A round of funding from Lightba... |
| 26.08.2010 | Can Sprout Social survive in crowded social monitoring market? | Sprout Social, a social media management and monitoring tool for businesses, today announced its official unveiling and public availability to all businesses. The company announced in May that it won backing from Groupon founders Eric Lefko... |
| 26.08.2010 | Sprout Social Debuts Social Media Management Platform For Businesses | As more businesses look to social media for marketing efforts and to drive sales, there is a need for a comprehensive, yet easy to use platform to manage interactions on social networks. Chicago-based startup Sprout Social is launching its ... |
| 26.08.2010 | Can Sprout Social survive in crowded social monitoring market? | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
Sprout Social, a social media management and moni... |
| 13.05.2010 | Sprout Social Raises Funding | Sprout Social, a provider of social relationship management (SRM) services, has received a Series A round of funding from Chicago-based Lightbank, the investment vehicle created by Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell.
Sprout So... |
| 15.04.2010 | Where I’ve Been Raises Capital From Lightbank | Where I’ve Been, LLC, a Chicago, IL-based social travel network, one of the most downloaded applications on Facebook, has received an additional round of funding from Lightbank, the investment vehicle created by Groupon founders Eric Lefkof... |
| 20.03.2010 | Excelerate Labs Brings A Startup Incubator To Chicago | It seems that Y Combinator and TechStars-like incubators are popping up everywhere. BoomStartup just launched an incubator in Utah and TechStars is expanding to other cities in the U.S., as is The Founder Institute. Chicago has a new incuba... |
| 16.03.2010 | Chicago entrepreneurs start $100M ‘Lightbank’ fund | Promoted
Telemedicine’s potential to provide healthcare to the world’s most vulnerable
Teladoc Health Head of R&D Yulun Wang highlights the impact of virtual care in underserved populations around the globe through the World Telehealth ... |
| 15.03.2010 | Groupon founders launch $100M ‘Lightbank’ fund to seed Chicago startups | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today!
Hoping to turn Chicago into the technology epicen... |
| 15.03.2010 | Groupon founders launch $100M ‘Lightbank’ fund to seed Chicago startups | Hoping to turn Chicago into the technology epicenter of the Midwest, the founders of bulk and discount buying site Groupon have launched a fund called Lightbank to provide seed funding to startups locating in or near the city. Right now, th... |