A nonprofit fund providing catalytic capital to overlooked founders in Chicago. We invest $25,000 at the very start, and every return goes to the next founder.
Before an angel or a venture fund will invest, a founder needs a small amount of money to build the first version and find the first customers. It comes from savings, and from parents, siblings, a college roommate, an old boss.
Founders with great ideas come from every background, but not all of them have family wealth or a network to draw on. Leave home equity out, because a home can't be wired to a startup, and a $25,000 check is more than many families could ever put in. Venture funds can't invest in companies that don't exist.
Why the first check decides who gets to start
Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2024 tables, the current release, median household net worth excluding equity in own home. How we calculate it, and the six-year trend.
Our companies are selected, so these numbers describe our portfolio, not the effect of the check on its own. Figures from our investment tracker, October 2026. The full record, by year.
A tax-deductible contribution to a 501(c)(3). In our current budget, about $20 of every $25 goes to founders and $5 runs the fund.
$25,000 on a standard SAFE, for founders chosen on grit and execution rather than pedigree, with coaching and introductions through our operating partner, LongJump.
Proceeds from an exit go back into the fund as another first check, which makes us an evergreen fund. We expect the first returns on a five to ten year horizon.
Why a nonprofit? Because capitalism breaks down at the Friends & Family round. The companies are too early and too risky for any fund that has to return money to investors. A family writes the check anyway, because the return comes back to the family. We built a fund that works the same way for a whole city.
Software, hardware, healthcare, media and marketplaces, every one backed with the same $25,000 check.
Ticketing and event software for the hosts who shape Black culture, with service fees shared back to them.
Handles the credentialing a clinician needs before they can legally treat patients and bill insurance.
Matches parents driving the same direction so they can share the school run and the practice run.
Works inside small accounting firms as an outside AI lead, building the automations that take the grind out of tax season.
Chicago founders, operators and investors.
$25,000 is one check. Any amount joins the fund that writes these checks, and contributions are tax-deductible.
GiveChicago-based, at the Friends & Family stage, with at least one co-founder who has faced material barriers to accessing capital due to racial discrimination.
ApplyIf you work with founders this early, or invest after us, we'd like to know you.
Get in touchUpdates on the founders we back and the work behind the checks.
