DePaul University invested $100,000 in Visual Feeder, an experiential media company founded by an alumnus.
It is the first investment made by the Chicago university's new Halperin Emerging Company Fund, which was established last year by DePaul alumnus Errol Halperin and his wife, Libby, to support startups launched by students, alumni and others. The program serves all DePaul colleges and schools, and all investment deals are reviewed and approved by the Halperin Emerging Company Fund investment committee.
While not typically as highly touted for producing startup founders as some of Chicago's other hometown schools, DePaul University said it is committed to fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Bruce Leech, executive director of DePaul's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, said that between the fund and the fact that DePaul is offering entrepreneurship classes earlier in students' education, the university will produce "a much better and stronger" student pipeline of potentially investable startups in the next year or two, he told Chicago Inno.
He said he expects to be vetting opportunities throughout the year with the goal of investing anywhere between $50,000 and $150,000 in about 20 to 30 companies over the next couple of years.
Yaxi Yang, co-founder of Visual Feeder, described the seed money investment as a "full-circle moment" for her as a former student and now entrepreneur. She will use the funds to help grow her team and generate revenue.
Founded in 2020, Visual Feeder transforms underutilized spaces into platforms for brand campaigns and artwork.
Having grown up around art, Yang and her brother, co-founder and CEO Eddie Yang, see vacant storefronts as a blank canvas to display art. And with the pandemic shutting down businesses across the city, the timing couldn't have been better to launch Visual Feeder.
"Even pre-Covid we would see vacant storefronts in high-foot-traffic areas with just brown paper coverings," she told Chicago Inno. "Then after Covid, it was just heightened and we wanted to do something about it."
Chicago tech nonprofit P33 recently partnered with Visual Feeder to create an immersive outdoor campaign that took over vacant flagship storefront windows on Michigan Avenue and State Street, including the John Hancock Center, and transformed them into projection displays. The displays showcased Chicago tech leaders including Dr. Christine Izuakor, founder and CEO of security company Cyber Pop-up; Dr. Garry Cooper, co-founder and CEO of science sharing economy Rheaply; and Kristi Ross, co-founder of financial media company Tastytrade.
The company also collaborated with the Nature Museum on an immersive photography exhibit of Chicago nature.
Visual Feeder's vision is to help cities work toward having zero vacant storefronts, starting with Chicago, Yang said.
