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Pre-seed investors in Illinois

11 of 21 pre-seed firms that report a preference say they can lead. 2 active since September.

Can leadMostly followsNot reportedRecently active

Arch Venture PartnersActive Sep 28

Illinois · Fund $3B+ Fund XIII (2024)

Paul Berns, Keith Crandell+12 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries ASeries BLeadsLife sciences +1

$25K to $30M+Can lead

Motivate Venture CapitalActive Sep 23

Illinois

Andy Will, David Wieland+2 on the team

Pre-seedSeedLeadsFintech +2Confirmed by the firm

$250K to $3MCan lead

Chingona Ventures

Illinois

Samara Mejia Hernandez, Fernando Carranza

Pre-seedLeadsFintech +2Confirmed by the firm

$250K to $3MCan lead

Corazon Capital

Illinois · Fund $100M — latest fund (2026)

Phil Schwarz, Sam Yagan+6 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries ALeadsConsumer +1

Check size not reportedCan lead

Illinois

Bill Pescatello, Eric Lefkofsky+2 on the team

Pre-seedSeedLeadsGeneralistConfirmed by the firm

$500K to $10MCan lead

Illinois

Mike Asem, Victor Gutwein+1 on the team

Pre-seedSeedLeadsGeneralistConfirmed by the firm

$250K to $3MCan lead

New Stack Ventures

Illinois · Fund $42.6M Fund II

Nick Moran, Luke Skertich

Pre-seedSeedLeadsVertical AI +7

$500K to $3MCan lead

Portal Innovations

Illinois · Fund $100 million AUM

John Flavin, Steven Lehmann

Pre-seedSeedLeadsLife sciences

$500K to $3MCan lead

Promus Ventures

Illinois

Mike Collett, John Lusk+3 on the team

Pre-seedSeedLeadsDeep tech +2

$500K to $10MCan lead

Sandalphon Capital

Illinois

Jonathan Ellis, Nevin Ramanujan

Pre-seedSeedSeries ALeadsEnterprise software +4

$100K to $3MCan lead

The 81 Collection

Illinois

Vijen Patel, Alex Kirshenbaum

Pre-seedSeedLeadsIndustrial +4Confirmed by the firm

$500K to $1MCan lead

Bridge Investments

Illinois

Daniel Goldberg, Connor Ryan+1 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries AEnterprise software +2

Check size not reportedMostly follows

Illinois

Tessa Flippin, Simmone Seymour

Pre-seedSeedMarketplaces +2

Check size not reportedLead not reported

CMT Digital Ventures

Illinois

Jan-Dirk Lueders, Scott Casto+2 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries ACrypto

Check size not reportedLead not reported

Cooperative Ventures

Illinois

Beth Kearns, Kevin Jones+1 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries ASeries BFood and ag +1

Check size not reportedLead not reported

Illinois

Jason Blumberg, Piers Wells+4 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries AClimate +3

Check size not reportedLead not reported

Energy Capital Ventures

Illinois

Jeff Yingling, Ray O’Connor+4 on the team

Pre-seedSeed

Check size not reportedLead not reported

Germin8 Ventures

Illinois

Michael Lavin

Pre-seedSeedSeries ASeries BFood and ag +3

Check size not reportedLead not reported

Hyde Park Angels

Illinois

Pete Wilkins, Michael Sachaj+2 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries AGeneralist

$500K to $3MMostly follows

Hyde Park Venture Partners

Illinois

Greg Barnes, Guy Turner+2 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries AGeneralist

Check size not reportedMostly follows

Illinois

Caroline Gash, Estelle Beutz

Pre-seedSeedGeneralist

$100K to $500KMostly follows

Illinois

Christopher Deutsch, Christian McKenzie

Pre-seedSeedGeneralist

Up to $100KMostly follows

Illinois

Ablorde Ashigbi, Ale Breuer+8 on the team

Pre-seedGeneralistConfirmed by the firm

$100K to $250KMostly follows

Illinois · Fund $20M (2025)

Haven Allen, Steven Koch+1 on the team

Pre-seedSeedDeep tech +3

$100K to $250KMostly follows

Illinois

Grant Newlin

Pre-seedSeedSeries ADeep tech +3

Check size not reportedMostly follows

Nine Four Ventures

Illinois · Fund $69.6M

Jeffrey Elowe, Kurt Ramirez+2 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries ASeries BProptech

Check size not reportedMostly follows

Reflexive Capital

Illinois

Azhar Hussain, Sunny Parikh

Pre-seedSeedCrypto

Check size not reportedLead not reported

Second Century Ventures

Illinois

Dave Garland, Mark Birschbach+2 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries ASeries BProptech +1

Check size not reportedMostly follows

Illinois

Euler Bropleh, Nneka Eze+5 on the team

Pre-seedSeedSeries AGeneralist

Check size not reportedLead not reported

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Related lists

Pre-seed investors1696 Pre-seed investors in United States1561 Pre-seed investors in California434 Pre-seed investors in New York233 Pre-seed investors in Canada139 Pre-seed investors in Massachusetts58 Seed investors in Illinois54 Series A investors in Illinois48 Pre-seed investors in Texas38 Pre-seed investors in Florida37 Pre-seed investors in Washington25 Series B investors in Illinois25

Questions

How many pre-seed investors in illinois are there?

Mode VC tracks 29 firms on this list as of 2026-10-15. 2 have been active since September 2026.

What check size do pre-seed investors in illinois write?

The most reported band is $500K to $1M, reported by 11 firms on this list.

Which pre-seed investors in illinois lead rounds?

11 of 21 firms that report a preference say they can lead. Turn on "Leads rounds" to see only them.