Hyde Park Venture Partners, a prominent venture capital firm based in Chicago, has successfully secured a $98 million investment for its fourth fund, Hyde Park Venture Partners Fund IV. This fund is designed to nurture early-stage startups, with a particular focus on companies founded in the Midwest and Toronto.
The investor base for HPVP Fund IV includes longstanding supporters such as the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, RK Mellon Foundation, Renaissance Venture Capital, and welcomes new partners such as NVNG and Cintrifuse Capital.
With the completion of Fund IV, Hyde Park Venture Partners now manages around $320 million in assets. This includes $25 million from Fund I initiated in 2012, $65 million from Fund II in 2015, $100 million from Fund III in 2019, and a $30 million Opportunity Fund finalized in 2021.
Thus far, two companies have benefited from investments from the new fund:
- Diffit: A company utilizing generative AI to assist educators in crafting tailored lesson plans for their students.
- CivCheck: A startup collaborating with municipalities and architects to expedite the building permitting process.
Portfolio of investments
Hyde Park Venture Partners has a history of supporting successful enterprises such as ShipBob, FourKites, G2, LogicGate, and Dentologie. Collectively, companies in the HPVP portfolio have secured over $1 billion in subsequent funding rounds.
In recent times, a number of businesses from the HPVP portfolio have been acquired. Notable examples include VNDLY by Workday for $510 million, Tock by Squarespace for over $400 million, Pear Deck by GoGuardian, and FairX by Coinbase.
Early-stage VC
Founded in 2012, Hyde Park Venture Partners has expanded its team, welcoming Jim Conti as Talent Partner and appointing Victoria Leon and Carlos Covarrubias as investors, with the latter recently promoted to Vice President.
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs praised the firm, stating, Hyde Park Venture Partners was one of the earliest funds to bet on the success of the Illinois and broader Midwest startup ecosystem, and has been a catalyst in enabling our local ecosystem’s growth as their fund has matured.
He expressed enthusiasm for continued collaboration as HPVP supports more groundbreaking founders and companies in the region.
Dhruv Saxena, CEO and Co-Founder of ShipBob, a leading e-commerce fulfillment platform and an HPVP portfolio company, commended the firm for its invaluable support, which has been crucial in achieving global expansion.
Allison Lechnir, Partner at HPVP, shared her excitement about investing in proficient founders and significant ventures in the Midwest and Toronto. She emphasized that the success of companies like ShipBob and FourKites has brought national attention to the region. Lechnir affirmed that Fund IV will continue to support exceptional founders with capital, talent, and strategic partnerships necessary for growth.
