Lightbank Explained

Lightbank is a Chicago-based venture capital firm founded in 2010 by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell.^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

The company was founded in 2010^[2] by Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky.^[4] Lefkofsky was a special advisor of Lightbank in 2014 and 2015, then became managing partner in November 2015.^[5] Other partners include Eric Ong, Matt Sacks, and Bill Pescatello.

In 2011, Lightbank had raised over $700 million and had a $290 million Fund III. Its investments included Groupon, Tempus AI, Fiverr and Udemy.^[6] By 2013, other investments included Sprout Social and Belly.^[7] It invested in Boom Technology in 2017,^[8] SpotHero in 2014,^[9] and BenchPrep and Qwiki by 2021 among others.^[10]

Notes and References

1. How Chicago-Based Lightbank Is Fixing A Broken VC Model. Forbes. 2012-10-24. 2012-12-24. Rogers. Bruce.
2. Web site: Lightbank and Kleiner Perkins create Windy City vs. Silicon Valley design fight. Baverman. Laura. 2012-12-20. 2012-12-24. Bizjournals.
3. Lightbank shines on more startups. Crain's Chicago Business. 2012-06-11. 2012-12-24. Marek. Lynne.
4. Business Insider "INSIDE GROUPON: The Truth About The World's Most Controversial Company" October 31, 2011
5. Web site: Lefkofsky lands back at Lightbank after stepping down as Groupon CEO. Sky. Blue. chicagotribune.com. 30 November 2015 . 2016-06-13.
6. Web site: Lightbank Gives $3 Million in Financing to Udemy. Wolinsky. David. NBC Chicago. 12 October 2011 . en. 2019-02-28.
7. Web site: Belly Raises $12.1 Million To Replace Loyalty Cards With Its App. Truong. Alice. 2013-08-27. Fast Company. en-US. 2019-02-28.
8. Japan Airlines and Boom Announce Partnership for Supersonic Air Travel . www.prnewswire.com. en. 2019-02-28.
9. Web site: Investors park $4.5 million in SpotHero. 2014-06-10. Crain's Chicago Business. en. 2019-02-28.
10. News: Hello Divorce raises $2M so that couples can say 'good-bye' easier. TechCrunch. 2021-08-02.