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Portfolio News

November 29, 2023

SquareStack CEO Bill Furlong Featured on the Chief Influencer Podcast

SquareStack CEO discusses "The Shifting Landscape of B2B Marketing"

November 3, 2023

STRATAFOLIA CEO Jeri Frank Featured on The Deal Scout Podcast

STRATAFOLIA CEO discusses "Portfolio Performance Software"

October 14, 2023

Under CEO Jeff Shea Featured on the Merchant Sales Podcast

Under CEO discusses "Underwriting in Era of AI"

July 25, 2023

SquareStack CEO Bill Furlong Featured on the R&B Show

SquareStack CEO discusses "A New Dashboard to Help You Better Manage Your Business"

July 10, 2023

Under Selected to Stage 2 Capital 2023 Catalyst Cohort

Under was selected as one of the 15 B2B companies for Stage 2 Capital's 2023 Catalyst Cohort

June 25, 2023

Innovare Receives Funding from Google for Startups Black Founders Fund

Innovare has been selected as one of the fortunate recipients of the prestigious Google for Startups Black Founders Fund!

April 6, 2023

Education Intelligence Company, Innovare, Raises $2M in Additional Seed Funding Despite Economic Downturn with Support from Existing and New Investors In the U.S. and Mexico

Chicago-based EdTech company, Innovare, announced that it has raised $2M in additional seed funding to continue to scale its impact on education leadership via its cloud-based strategy and analytics platform Inno™️.

March 23, 2023

Charleston Angel Partners Invests in SquareStack

Charleston Angel Partners has invested in Chicago-based start-up SquareStack to drive expansion and growth.

February 25, 2023

STRATAFOLIO and Intuit QuickBooks are joining forces to provide a bundled solution for new customers

Learn more about STRATAFOLIOS's new collaboration in the QuickBooks Solution Provider program from the firm's CEO, Jeri Frank.

November 13, 2022

Propellant Ventures Makes an Investment Into Proptech Company, STRATAFOLIO

Propellant Ventures is excited to announce that we made an investment into Cedar Rapids, IA based Proptech firm STRATAFOLIO.

Thought Leadership

April 12, 2023

Video Gaming Has Played Itself Into a Leading Entertainment Sector (Webinar)

On April 12 2023, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion to talk about the exciting growth in the video gaming industry.

March 7, 2023

The Rapid Adoption of Technology is Heating Up the Restaurant Industry (Webinar)

On March 7 2023, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion to talk about the innovation taking place in the restaurant industry.

February 8, 2023

Technological Advancements in Manufacturing are Vital to the Global Economy (Webinar)

On February 8 2023, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion to talk about the innovation taking place in the manufacturing sector.

January 30, 2023

Investor Connect (Interview)

Our Managing Partner, Jason Jacobsohn, was interviewed by Hall Martin of TEN Capital Midwest on the Investor Connect podcast to discuss the future of work and other investing topics.

January 11, 2023

Retail Technology is Transforming a $25+ Trillion Industry (Webinar)

On January 11 2023, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion to talk about the continued investment and innovation in the retail sector.

November 16, 2022

Investment into Logistics Tech is Driving the Sector Forward (Webinar)

On October 16, 2022, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion to talk about the continued investment and innovation in the logistics sector.

October 12, 2022

Agtech Has Taken Root as Investors Plow Record Sums into the Sector (Webinar)

On October 12, 2022, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion about to talk about the investing boom in Agtech as consumers' habits and tastes are changing.

September 13, 2022

The Sports Tech Revolution is Underway (Webinar)

On September 13, 2022, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion about to talk about the investing boom in Sports Tech companies that is changing the sports industry.

August 31, 2022

End of Summer Mixer (video)

On August 31, 2022 Propellant Ventures co-hosted an in person End of Summer Mixer to bring the investor and entrepreneur community together.

August 16, 2022

Climate Tech Investing is Heating Up to Create a More Sustainable Future (Webinar)

On August 16, 2022, Propellant Ventures hosted an engaging discussion about to talk about the investing boom in Climate Tech companies that is making the world more sustainable.

Industry News

February 10, 2023

Investor appetite, microfunds help seed investing defy startup drubbing

While the end of the more than decade-long tech investing bull cycle was far from unanticipated, many venture investors were not prepared for the swift market downturn that began to take shape in early 2022.

January 24, 2023

IPO activity declines as big companies buy VC-backed startups

Prior to 2022, it seemed like every other startup on the market was going public. But during 2022, as the Fed aggressively raised interest rates to curb inflation, the trend reversed. Global IPO volumes fell 45% year-over-year, according to data from Ernst & Young.

January 12, 2023

Why local VCs think fundraising will pick back up in 2023

While 2021 was a year unlike any other for Chicago startups, 2022 proved to be a much different story, and Chicago startups are waiting to see if venture capital funding can get back into the swing of things to begin the new year.

January 9, 2023

Why is VC dry powder still piling up?

Venture capital firms' cash piles continued to grow, even as dry powder fell across other private investment strategies.Global venture firms were sitting on $585.5 billion of capital raised but not allocated as of the end of Q3 2022, according to PitchBook data. VC is the only private investment strategy in which dry powder is on pace to rise from 2021 levels.

December 21, 2022

Where did the unicorns go? $1B startups are getting harder to find

A unicorn, in startup vernacular, was designed as a term to describe a rare event for a young tech company: a $1 billion valuation. But in 2021, unicorns were more ubiquitous than ever.

December 12, 2022

Startup whiplash hits some sectors harder than others

There is no denying that 2022 has been a challenging year for startups. But it has not been equally difficult for every sector of the VC-backed ecosystem.

November 23, 2022

Slump puts more startups on path to acquisition by other startups

These are challenging times for venture capitalists hoping to eke out a palatable exit from a struggling portfolio company. Many venture-backed companies could soon be facing an undesirable yet straightforward decision: go out of business or be acquired at a fraction of their last valuation.

November 22, 2022

Cleo Capital on why now is a good time for early-stage VCs

Early-stage startups are finding it harder to raise capital as investors get more selective, but the ecosystem could still be in for a fresh influx of talent, says Cleo Capital managing director Sarah Kunst.

November 9, 2022

More cuts in late-stage valuations loom, as startups miss revenue targets

When Instacart lowered its internal valuation from $39 billion to $24 billion in March, many in the VC ecosystem wondered whether other startups would follow in the grocery delivery specialist's footsteps.

October 6, 2022

Global VC Pullback Is Dramatic In Q3 2022

Venture and growth investors in private companies scaled back their investment pace significantly as the slump in the public markets stretched into the third quarter.

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