Business POV

The Illinois Innovation Accelerator (i2A), a $10 million seed-stage, for-profit investment fund, was launched with $6.4 million in capital commitment at the end of February. With heavy-hitting names attached to it like J. B. Pritzker and Michael Ferro, Jr., the fund will be administered by the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC). Here, its president, David Weinstein, gives an overview.

Each year, the i2A Investment and Advisory Committees expect to evaluate between 150-200 investment opportunities and invest in four to six companies that are headquartered in Illinois and the surrounding region.

Individual investors include Michael Ferro, Jr., Bob Geras, James Gray, Jules Knapp, Larry Levy and J.B. Pritzker, who is chairman of the i2A investment committee. The State of Illinois also has a $1 million investment in the fund.

Administering the fund is the CEC, which has assisted entrepreneurs in raising more than $40 million in debt and equity in the past four years with a focus on assisting clients in raising equity capital in amounts ranging from $100,000 to $3 million.

Structured as a member-managed fund with individual and institutional investors, the i2A Fund (http://www.i2afund.com/) will be administered by the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), a non-profit affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, with a strong track record in early-stage financing. Notable venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker, of New World Ventures, as well as the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) played an active role as the early catalysts in the formation of the i2A Fund.

The fund wasn't created solely for technology companies, but rather to drive invention across multiple industries. The fund will also invest in consumer product and retail enterprises, new-media start-ups, as well as companies in biotechnology, nanotechnology, clean technology and life sciences.

The first close of the i2A Fund included individual investors Michael Ferro, Jr., Bob Geras (chairman of the advisory committee), James Gray, Jules Knapp, Larry Levy, J.B. Pritzker (chairman of investment committee) and Ralph Wanger. Contributing institutions include: Cardinal Growth Corp., Duchossois Technology Partners, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Illinois Institute of Technology, Merrick Ventures, Mesirow Financial, National City Equity Partners and Wexford Science and Technology.

To submit a business plan for consideration, visit the fund's website