Chicago Private Equity Firms

In addition to our list of Chicago Venture Capital Firms and Chicago Family Investment Offices, here is a list of Chicago Private Equity Firms investing in later stage companies. I included a high-level summary of their investment criteria, as communicated on their websites.

Adams Street Partners (tech & healthcare, $27BN managed, $5-$25MM checks)

Aldine Capital Partners (generalist, $2-$15MM checks, $10MM+ revs, $2MM+ EBITDA)

Alpha Capital (mfg. & dist., $135MM managed, $500K-$5MM checks, $15-$100MM revs)

Anderson Pacific (telecom & infrastructure, $1-$50MM checks, $2-$10MM EBITDA)

Arbor Investments (food & beverage, $5-$50MM EBITDA, up to $300MM revs)

Baird Capital Partners (healthcare, industrial, tech & services, up to $150MM revs, $3-$10MM EBITDA, $25-$50MM checks, $300MM managed)

Beecken Petty O'Keefe & Company  (healthcare, $1.4BN managed, over $5MM EBITDA)

Benford Capital (CPG, industrial, services & dist., over $1MM EBITDA, over $3MM revs)

Beverly Capital (healthcare & biz services, $2-$8MM EBITDA)

Bounds Equity Partners (bldg mat., biz svs., CPG, dist. & mfg, $100MM mgd, over $1MM EBITDA)

Bridge Investments (biz svs., SaaS, cons., mfg,, health, up to $10MM checks, up to $5MM EBITDA)

Chicago Capital Partners (svs., CPG, dist., educ., & mfg., $2-$10MM checks, $1-$5MM EBITDA)

Chicago Venture Partners (tech/comm, media/ent, energy, CPG, biotech/pharma, up to $3MM check)

CIVC Partners (biz svs. & financial svs., $1.5BN managed, $5MM+ EBITDA, $15-$85MM checks)

CJM Ventures (small-to-middle market, mfg., dist. biz svs., fin svs.)

CM Acquisitions (industrial & transport infrastructure, up to $15MM EBITDA, up to $250MM revs)

Cressey & Company (healthcare, $1BN managed, up to $50MM checks)

Cognitive Capital Partners (mfg, biz svs, data, consumer, $3-$15MM EBITDA, $5-$50MM checks)

Dixon Midland (ecomm, health, energy/agric svs, CPG, biz svs, $4MM+ EBITDA, $25-$100MM valuation)

DN Partners (mfg, dist. & services, $20-$100MM revenues, $20-$100MM valuation)

D'Orazio Capital Partners (mfg., log., supply, svs., & oil, $10-$30MM revs, $1.5-$3MM EBITDA)

Driehaus Private Equity (energy, media, services & mfg., $5-$50MM revs, $1-$30MM checks, $3MM+ EBITDA)

Dunrath Capital (infrastructure)

Edgewater Funds ($2.4BN managed, $20-$500MM revs)

Flexpoint Ford (financial svs. & healthcare, up to $200MM checks)

Frontenac Company (food, services, & industrial, $3-$20MM EBITDA, to $250MM valuation)

Fulton Capital (dist., mfg., & biz svs., $10-$100M revs, $2-10MM EBITDA)

Geneva Glen Capital (biz svs., CPG, environment, educ., health, mfg., media, dist., $3-$20MM EBITDA, up to $50MM check, under $100MM valuation)

Glencoe Capital (generalists, $3-$15MM EBITDA, over $7MM checks, Michigan focus)

Grand Crossing Capital (CPG & retail, $5-$25MM checks, $2-$10MM EBITDA)

Granite Creek Partners (food/agric., med. devices, transport., $10-$50MM checks, $5MM+ EBITDA, $25-$150MM valuation)

Growth Catalyst Partners (information, marketing, tech-enabled services, $3-$7MM EBITDA)

GTCR (fin. svs., tech, media, telecom, health, biz svs., upper middle-market)

Hadley Capital (mfg., dist., & biz svs., $5-$30MM revs, $1-3MM EBITDA)

Hand Capital (financial services & manufacturing, small businesses)

HCP & Company (consumer, education  & healthcare, $10MM+ revs, $5-$30MM checks, profitable)

Heico Companies (mfg., dist., & services, $30MM+ revenues)

Hennessy Capital (ind., mfg., dist., services, $500MM-$1BN valuations)

High Street Capital (biz svs., mfg., dist., & health, up to $100MM revs, up to $15MM EBITDA)

Hughes & Company (healthcare, $2-$20MM checks, up to $10MM EBITDA)

Industrial Innovation Partners (industrial, oil, tech, & health, $1-20MM EBITDA, $5-$100MM valuation)

Industrial Opportunity Partners  (mfg. & dist., $30-$350MM revs, $5-$50MM check, $460MM mgd)

Inoca Capital Partners (biz svs., consumer & mfg., $1-$8MM EBITDA)

JZ Partners (mfg., dist., ind., health, educ., trans., biz svs., up to $200MM valuation, $1BN mgd).

JVA Partners (home decor, industrial storage, IoT technology, $25-$150MM revs, $5-$25MM check)

Keystone Capital (prof./biz svs., industrial tech/mfg. & consumer/food, $4MM+ EBITDA)

Lake Capital (biz svs., cons. svs., fin svs., & health, $50-$75MM checks)

Lake Pacific Partners (food/bev., CPG, cons. svs., dist., & biz svs., $25-$250MM revs)

LaSalle Capital (food/bev. & biz svs., $10-$100MM revs, $2MM+ EBITDA, $5-20MM checks)

Linden Capital Partners (healthcare, $1.3BN managed)

Madison Dearborn Partners (industrial, biz. svs., consumer, fin. svs., health, telecom, media, tech svs., $18BN mgd, new growth stage B2B tech fund cutting $75-$100MM checks)

Madison Industries (filtration, medical, & industrial, strong cash flow, global focus, up to $250MM)

Maranon Capital (biz svs., consumer, health, dist., & mfg., $2BN mgd, $5-$50MM EBITDA)

McNally Capital (food/bev, biz svs., logistics, mfg, & health, $5-$25MM EBITDA)

Merit Capital Partners (mfg.., dist, & biz svs., $25MM+ revs, $5MM+ EBITDA, $15MM+ checks, $1.7BN mgd.)

Mesirow Financial (generalist, $4.5BN mgd., co-invest with professional funds)

Mid Oaks Investments (mfg., biz svs., & dist., $25-$250MM revs)

Midwest Mezzanine Funds (generalist, $750MM mgd., $3MM+ EBITDA, $4-$15MM checks)

MVC Capital (CPG, food, dist., mfg. & fin. svs., $10-$150MM revs, $3-$25MM EBITDA, $3-$25MM checks)

New Harbor Capital (health, education & biz svs., $3-15MM EBITDA, $10-$30MM checks)

North American Funds (mfg., food/bev., medical, consumer, dist., biz svs., educ. & fin. svs., $5-$40MM revs, $500K-$5MM EBITDA)

One Eighty Capital (generalist, $5-$50MM valuation, $0-$10MM EBITDA)

One Equity Partners (health, fin. svs., mfg., tech, travel, energy, food, media & consumer, $11BN mgd, $150MM average check)

Parallel49 Equity (mfg., biz svs. & dist., $5-$25MM EBITDA, $1BN managed)

Parker Gale (technology, $2-$6MM EBITDA)

Periscope Equity (tech-enabled biz svs., $10-$40MM revs, $2-$5MM EBITDA, $10-$30MM valuation, $5-$15MM checks)

Pfingsten Partners (mfg., dist. & biz svs., $15-$100MM valuation, $20-$150MM revs, $3-12MM EBITDA)

Plenary Partners (health, tech, mfg. & life sciences, $1MM+ EBITDA)

Polestar Capital (technology, smaller companies)

PPM America (consumer, energy, dist., health, educ., tech, mfg. & biz svs., $6BN mgd, $5-$25MM checks, $30-$300MM valuation)

Prairie Capital (biz svs., industrial, CPG, educ., fin. svs. & health, $20-$100MM revs, $4-$12MM EBITDA)

Prism Capital (industrial up to $7MM checks; tech, health, mfg. & biz svs. up to $3MM co-invest checks)

Promus Equity Partners (CPG, food/bev., industrial, special materials, dist. & biz svs., EBITDA up to $15MM)

Prospect Partners (mfg., dist. & services, $10-$75MM revs)

Range Light (active lifestyle, natural foods & tech svs., $1-$20MM check, $1-$30MM revs)

Red Arts Capital (industrial, biz svs., CPG, dist., mfg., food/bev., health & medical devices, up to $75MM revs)

Right Lane Capital (generalist, $3-$20MM EBITDA)

RiverGlade Capital (healthcare, $3MM+ EBITDA)

Rock Gate Partners (biz svs., consumer, dist., food & industrial, $3-20MM checks, $10-$75MM valuation, $10-$100MM revs)

Rock Island Capital (mfg., dist., & svs., up to $100MM valuation, $10-$100MM revs)

RoundTable Healthcare Partners (med. devices, pharma & healthcare, $2.75BN managed)

SE Capital (biz svs. & gov. svs., $5-$50MM revenues)

Sheridan Capital Partners (healthcare & consumer, $20-$150MM valuation, $10-$30MM checks)

Shore Capital Partners (healthcare, $5-$50MM revs, $1-$5MM EBITDA)

Shorehill Capital (industrial & distribution, $25-$100MM valuations)

Silver Oak Services Partners (biz svs., cons. svs. & health, $10-$30MM checks, $15-$150MM revs, $3-$20MM EBITDA)

Skyline Global Partners (health, mfg., biz svs., software, CPG, food/bev/agric., & oil/gas, $10-$100M checks, $10-$100MM revs, $2-$15MM EBITDA)

Sterling Partners (biz svs., education & healthcare, $25-$125MM checks, $10-$30MM EBITDA)

Stockwell Capital (generalist, $3-$15MM co-invest checks, $50-$500MM valuation)

Svoboda Capital Partners (dist., biz svs., cons. svs. & CPG, $25-$100MM valuation, $10-$25MM checks, $10-$100MM revs, $3-$15MM EBITDA)

Synetro Group (B2B tech, biz svs. & mfg., $8-$50MM revs, $0-$3MM EBITDA, $1-$4MM checks, under $50MM valuation)

The Pritzker Group (mfg., services, health, food, cons., industrial, transport, medical and pharma, $100-$750MM valuation)

Thoma Bravo (enterprise, infrastructure tech, security tech and tech-enabled biz svs., $20MM+ EBITDA, $100-$750MM checks)

Thurston Group (healthcare/practice mgt., technology, services and telecom, $3BN managed)

Traverse Pointe Partners (biz svs., bldg. prods., fin. svs., mfg., industrial, media, telecom, packaging, retail, CPG, transport & dist., up to $6MM in EBITDA, $10MM+ revs)

Turnout Capital (biz svs., mfg., logistics, $1-$3MM in EBITDA)

Tyree and D'Angelo Partners (health, cons., agric., biz svs., $1-$5MM EBITDA, under $50MM revs)

Valor Equity Partners (cons., infrastructure, industrial & mfg., $10-30MM checks)

Water Street (healthcare, $50-$500MM checks)

Waterside Capital Partners (ind., CPG, food, mfg. & biz svs., $3-$25MM checks, $25-$150MM revs)

Waud Capital Partners (generalist, $50-$100MM checks)

Waveland Investments (mfg., dist. & services, $10MM+ revs, $1-$8MM EBITDA)

Willis Stein & Partners (infrastructure, mfg. & education, $30-$500MM valuation, $3BN mgd)

Wind Point Partners (industrial, CPG & biz svs., $30-$150MM check, $10MM+ EBITDA)

Winona Capital (CPG, retail & cons. svs., $10-$100MM revs, $1MM+ EBITDA, $10-$30MM check)

Woodlawn Partners (mfg., bldg. svs., tech, fin. svs., food/bev., transport & dist., $5MM+ revs, $1MM+ EBITDA)

Wynnchurch Capital (mfg., transport, biz svs., dist., energy, ind. & metals, $50MM-$1BN revs, $5-$100MM checks)


Be sure to dig deeper on their websites to make sure they invest in your specific industry, revenue stage, geography and desired minority/majority deal structure before reaching out to these investors. Red Rocket can help make introductions to many of these investors, so please leverage our relationships here.

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[NEWS] The Red Rocket Blog Passes 750,000 Reads!!

We just logged in to write our next blog post and were pleasantly surprised when we got an alert that the Red Rocket Blog just passed the 750,000 reads mark!!  We are so excited our reader base continues to grow and keeps coming back, month after month, for our growing list of lessons in enterpreneurship.  Thank you so much for your continued readership, and helping us spread the word to your entrepreneurial colleagues.

For future posts, please follow us on Twitter at: @RedRocketVC.

6 Key Tips to Taking Your Business Global

If your business has seen successful growth in the US, it most likely will see success in other countries as well.  And, you may want to lock up those markets, before some other company does.  I recently met a startup that had successfully tripled its revenues, largely from the results of a successful international expansion effort, and I wanted to share those learnings with all of you.

Read the rest of this post in The Next Web, which I guest authored this week.

For future posts, please follow me on Twitter at: @georgedeeb.

Chicago Family Investment Offices

One of the growing trends in the venture scene is the addition of family offices to the mix of prospective investors.  It used to be family offices would just invest in professionally managed venture funds, but many are now building in-house teams and starting to make direct investments.  Most family offices like to keep a low profile, and are hard to find, so I did my best here.  I also included some venture funds that have outside money, as well, if the lion's share of the fund is the personal investment vehicle for one family.

Here are some of the bigger family offices I am aware of here in Chicago, including the key family investor in parentheses:

Ashland Capital (a collection of families)

Breslow Forsythe Group (confidential)

Caretta (Eric Becker)

Certare Ventures (Art Wong)

Chaifetz Group (Richard Chaifetz)

Concentric Equity Partners (Harrison Steans)

Corazon Capital (Sam Yagan)

Crown Family Office (Lester Crown) -- no website

Diversified Capital (Larry Levy)

DRW Venture Capital (Don Wilson)

Duchossois Capital Management (Craig Duchossois)

Equity Group Investments (Sam Zell)

G2T3V (Howard Tullman)

Grand Crossing Capital (Clay Naccarato)

Harrison Street (Chris Galvin & Michael Galvin)

Huizenga Capital Management (Wayne Huizenga)

Incisent Labs (Pat Ryan)

Jump Capital (Paul Gurinas & Bill Disomma)

Jumpstart Ventures (Rishi Shah & Shradha Agarwal)

Lead Lap LLC (David Zucker)

LEO Capital (Randy Rissman)

Lightbank (Brad Keywell & Eric Lefkofsky)

Longview Asset Management (Lester Crown)

KB Partners (Keith Bank)

Kenex Holdings (a collection of families)

Keystone Capital (the partners of Keystone's personal money)

KGC Capital (Dick Kiphart)

Mansueto Ventures (Joe Mansueto)

Matthew Pritzker Company (Matthew Pritzker)

Merrick Ventures (Michael Ferro)

McNally Capital (a collection of families)

OCA Ventures (Jim Dugan, John Dugan & Peter Ianello)

Old Town Capital (Jamie Crouthamel)

Origin Ventures (Steve Miller)

OS Fund (Bryan Johnson)

PFG Group (a collection of families)

Pritzker Group Venture Capital (J.B. Pritzker & Tony Pritzker)

Promus Ventures (Andy Code)

PSP Capital Partners (Penny Pritzker)

Reyes Holdings (Christopher Reyes & Jude Reyes)

Romar Partners (Scott Wald & George Colis)

Sawdust Investment Management (Michael Krasny)

Skydeck LLC (Michael Polsky)

TCS Group (Ted Schwartz)

Be sure to research their website to ensure your industry and the stage of your business qualifies for their investment criteria, as many of these prefer private equity stage to venture capital stage businesses.  If you are aware of other big ones I am missing, please add them to the comments field.

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[NEWS] @georgedeeb Presents Recruiting Tips for Startups on the @StrongSuitHires Podcast

This week, Red Rocket's George Deeb had the pleasure of being interviewed by Jeff Hyman, the Chief Talent Officer at Strong Suit, a small business playbook for early-stage recruiting.  In this 20 minute podcast, George talks about the five things to look for when recruiting startup executives and how best to compensate and incentivize them.  Happy listening!!  Thanks, Jeff, for including us in your podcast series.

For future posts, please follow us on Twitter at: @RedRocketVC.

What Exactly is Venture Capital?

I have been writing about how to raise venture capital for years.  But, I got a very unexpected question the other day: what exactly is venture capital?  I just assumed everyone understood what venture capital actually was.  But, for those of you who are new to the startup or fund raising scene, this post is for you!!

Read the rest of this post in Forbes, which I guest authored this week.

For future posts, please follow me on Twitter at: @georgedeeb.