It’s been quite the year for Chicago startup funding, with several rounds that were near or surpassed $100 million.
Two Chicago cannabis startups, Verano Holdings and Cresco Labs led the year in fundings. Both closed their funding deals in October, with Verano raising $120 million and Cresco raising $100 million. Additionally, Tempus, Eric Lefkofsky’s cancer-fighting startup raised nearly $200 million this year over two separate deals.
Looking back at 2018's funding triumphs, Chicago Inno compiled a list of the year’s top raises, based on public announcements, our reporting and available data. Here are the top 10 most lucrative VC deals in 2018:
Verano Holdings:—$120M: The Chicago marijuana company raised $120 million in funding during October to expand in Illinois and elsewhere. Verano is a holding company that consolidates ownership of several cannabis operations, including Illinois-based Ataraxia.
Tempus:—$110M: The cancer-fighting startup raised $110 million in August following an earlier funding round of $80 million in March. The most recent round was led by a new backer, Baillie Gifford, a U.K. investment management firm. Others included existing investors T. Rowe Price, Revolution Growth and New Enterprise Associates. Tempus has now raised $320 million since it launched two years ago, and is valued at $2 billion, making it one of the city’s “unicorn” tech companies.
Cresco Labs:—$100M: One of Chicago’s largest marijuana upstarts raised a $100 million Series D round of funding in October from private investors as it looked to bring its suite of cannabis products to more patients. Cresco, founded in 2013 by Charlie Bachtell and Joe Caltabiano, has now raised $185 million to date. The $100 million round is the second largest private funding round for a U.S. cannabis company ever, the company said.
Tempus:—$80M: In Tempus’ first funding round of the year in March, it raised $80 million. Investors included new backers Kinship Trust Company and T. Rowe Price, along with existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Revolution Growth.
VillageMD:—$80M: The health care startup, which partners with primary care providers to help them cut costs and deliver better patient outcomes, raised $80 million in January from Athyrium Capital Management, a New York-based investor in healthcare companies. The company now has more than $116 million in total funding.
G2 Crowd:—$55M: The tech company raised $55 million in a Series C round of funding in October led by Silicon Valley-based IVP. Other investors in the round included Emergence Capital, Accel and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. The round brought G2 Crowd’s total amount raised to $100 million.
PerkSpot:—$50M: The startup, which makes an HR tech platform, raised $50 million in August from Susquehanna Growth Equity, the first outside investment PerkSpot has received. PerkSpot’s platform is a workplace benefit employers can offer their employees to give them discounts at particular retailers. The startup negotiates with vendors on behalf of employers and takes care of all perk-related customer service requests.
Endotronix:—$45M: The medical device startup based in Lisle raised $45 million in Septemeber in a funding round led by Amsterdam-based LSP. Endotronix’s artery sensor provides blood pressure data to doctors in real time. The startup says it will use its funding to commercialize its product.
project44:—$45M: The startup raised $45 million in October in a round led by Silicon Valley VC firm Sapphire Ventures. Other backers included Insight Venture Partners, 8VC, Chicago Ventures, Emergence Capital, Omidyar Technology Ventures, OpenView Venture Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Earlier in the year, it raised $35 million in a funding round led by Boston-based VC firm OpenView, bringing its total funding to more than $90 million.
Evive:—$43M: The local SaaS company that makes a benefits engagement platform raised $43 million in January funding from Susquehanna Growth Equity. The funding was the first outside capital Evive received.
