Coverage of Fifth Star Funds since 2021, newest first. Figures in older pieces are of their time, and the current ones are on our research page.
1871 named our co-founder Tim Huelskamp its Outstanding Tech CEO for his work at 1440. The published citation reads, "He launched Fifth Star Funds to expand access to early-stage capital." At the same ceremony, Eventnoire, a Fifth Star company, won the Social Impact Award. Eventnoire's page has the story of our check.
Abby Miller on the year ahead: a $450,000 target, at least six first checks, the LongJump partnership, and the $125,000 grant from the Richard L. Duchossois Foundation that opened the year.
Abby Miller, with Stella Ashaolu, Osa Osarenkhoe and Kyle Backer, on what corporate DEI cuts mean for founders and for a fund like ours.
These pieces are from our first year and a half.
On Chicago's push to send seed and angel money to founders it had overlooked, and where Fifth Star fits: the capital that comes before any of it.
A short item on the model: a nonprofit that invests, then reinvests whatever comes back.
A profile of the fund in its first year, written as we were incorporating.
A television segment with our then executive director, Samir Mirza, and Cyber Pop-up founder Dr. Christine Izuakor.
Part of the "Chicago Comes Back" series. On the group of tech executives who started the fund and why.
Named in a year of record venture investment in Chicago.
On building a fund the way a founder builds a company: start small, measure, adjust.
Fifth Star presented the evergreen model at the Chicago Venture Summit alongside portfolio company Roomii.
We're glad to talk, and the research page has the sources. Get in touch and pick "Press" on the form.
Updates on the founders we back and the work behind the checks.
