$361.3M VC invested in Chicago in Q2 2016

DJX VentureSource has released its Q2 2016 venture capital report, which tracks investments into companies that have received at least one round of venture funding. Chicago’s $361.3 million VC dollars invested in Q2 2016 increased significantly from the $110.5 million raised in Q2 2015. Investment rounds held at 21 rounds in Q2 2016 compared to 20 in Q2 2015.

In June, Pitchbook released an analysis of venture capital returns among companies in startup hubs throughout the U.S. The analysis found that 81 percent of Chicago exits had a 3x to 10x return, the highest of all surveyed cities, and 45 percent of Chicago’s exits had a 10x return, also the highest of all surveyed. The article is available here.

The following chart displays Chicago’s performance from Q2 2009 – Q2 2016.¹

The following charts compare Chicago’s second quarter 2016 performance with other select metro areas, followed by lists of major VC deals, investors, IPOs and M&As in Chicago and across the U.S.²

Major VC Deals in Chicago, Q2 2016²

• SMS Assist LLC, Facility / Operations Management ($150M)
• Aptinyx Inc., Biotechnology Therapeutics ($65M)
• Vibes Media, Advertising / Marketing ($45M)
• SpringCM Inc., Project / Document Collaboration ($18M)
• Signal Digital Inc., Advertising / Marketing ($15M)

Active Investors in Chicago, Q2 2016²

• Hyde Park Angels (4 deals)
• Lightbank LLC (2)
• Management (2)
• Pallasite Ventures (2)

Major VC Deals in the U.S., Q2 2016²

• Uber Technologies Inc., Transportation Services ($3,500M)
• Snapchat Inc., Email / Messaging ($1,271M)
• GT Forge Inc., Transportation Services ($300M)
• Moderna LLC, Biotechnology Therapeutics ($200M)
• Zoox Inc., Automobiles ($200M)

Active Investors in the U.S., Q2 2016²

• New Enterprise Associates Inc. (21 deals)
• Innovation Works Inc. (21)
• Greycroft Partners (15)
• General Catalyst Partners (14)
• Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (13)

Top IPOs in the U.S., Q2 2016²

• Twilio Inc., Communications Software ($150M)
• Intellia Therapeutics Inc., Biotechnology Therapeutics ($108M)
• Acacia Communications Inc., Fiberoptic Equipment ($104M)

Top M&As in the U.S., Q2 2016²

• AbbVie Inc. acquisition of Stemcentrx Inc., Biotechnology Therapeutics, San Francisco CA $5,000M)
• Bango PLC acquisition of Danal Inc., Payment / Transactional Processing, San Jose CA ($3,750M)
• General Motors acquisition of Cruise Automation Inc., Consumer Electronics, San Francisco CA ($1,000M)

¹ Alternate sources (CB Insights, CrunchBase, PitchBook, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, etc.) have various methods for collecting and tracking venture capital data, resulting in disparate figures.
² Lists are not exhaustive.

Note: The investment figures included in this release are based on aggregate findings of Dow Jones’ proprietary research collected through surveys of professional firms, interviews with company executives, and from secondary sources. Information reflects equity financing, including cash investments into companies that have received at least one round of venture funding, and does not include companies receiving funding solely from corporate, individual and/or government investors. Figures are subject to change. For more information, please refer to the DJX VentureSource website.

Source: Dow Jones VentureSource; U.S. Census 2014 (population estimates for metros); ACS  2014 5-year (population estimate for Orange County).

Chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, World Business Chicago is the public-private partnership leading the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs in order to drive business development, cultivate talent, and put Chicago at the forefront of the global economy.

WBC’s “Economic Briefs” track indicators from month to month to gauge the strength of several aspects of Chicago’s economy, including unemployment, population, venture capital, job openings and new hires, home sales, tourism, etc. This data provides a clear analytic framework for specific Plan strategies and initiatives. For a summary of these and other economic indicators, refer to WBC’s monthly Chicago By The Numbers.