Earlier this year, the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center announced a new academic partnership with TeamWorking by TechNexus. This collaboration between the CEC and TechNexus aims to support innovation and strengthen Chicago’s startup ecosystem.
In this post, Kaitlyn Doyle, Vice President at TechNexus, shares insights into TechNexus, explaining how startups can leverage its resources and what the future holds for the business.
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TechNexus is a Venture Collaborative—a blend of corporate joint ventures, operating entities, and limited partnerships that together form a fast-growing, interconnected investment portfolio. Corporates, founders, and investors who partner with us gain exclusive access to an ecosystem of ventures aimed at driving long-term economic growth and addressing some of the world’s most complex challenges. At our core, we help leading corporations invest in ambitious startups. Since 2017, TechNexus has collaborated with over a dozen corporate partners to invest in more than 150 early-stage technology companies.
Corporations partner with TechNexus to gain unparalleled access to a vast network of early-stage ventures. These powerful partnerships between large organizations and startups drive innovation and growth by uncovering new opportunities, transforming industries, and achieving long-term success. We take a different approach to corporate venturing. In addition to strategic capital, we incubate startups, draw insights from the ecosystem, collaborate in a structured way, and build new revenue streams. More than half of our team is focused on post-investment collaboration.
The TechNexus business has evolved significantly since its founding in 2004; in fact, TechNexus originally began as a sort of clubhouse. Terry Howerton and Fred Hoch, the TechNexus cofounders, were both entrepreneurs in Chicago, seeking like-minded individuals with whom they could work and share ideas. The idea of a technology clubhouse came to be, and TechNexus launched as one of the city’s very first coworking spaces, leveraging the benefits of bringing people together in the right place at the right time.
As TechNexus grew, Terry and Fred noticed that their ecosystem was attracting the interest of larger corporations. Large corporations often struggle to innovate or act quickly, so corporate executives looked at the entrepreneurs at TechNexus and asked, ‘How can I bring that to my company?’
Push came to shove, and TechNexus, the venture collaborative, began. Our thesis at the time (which has been proven time and again) is that if corporations invest a little bit of seed or Series A stage capital into startups, they can strengthen a collaborative relationship with that company and get further than if they simply became a partner or a customer.
In addition to investing in early-stage companies, we continue to run a coworking space, TeamWorking by TechNexus. Spanning three floors in the historic Civic Opera Building, this space is home to over 80 technology companies. These companies (which we call our collaborators) will tell you that the technology clubhouse vibe of TechNexus still exists. You never know who you might bump into in the halls or at one of the many events we host in our space. The TechNexus Venture Collaborative is obviously a cornerstone tenant, and our venture and strategy team are committed to supporting our collaborators in any way possible, whether through fundraising support and advice, introductions to corporate partners, or business model brainstorming. We offer dedicated office space, conference rooms, and event spaces.
The future is bright for TechNexus Venture Collaborative. As we continue to invest beyond the check, we’re launching a new content platform to better connect our ecosystem and tell the stories that highlight the corporate-startup connections we facilitate. Through our Venture Impact program, we’re leveraging our entrepreneurial expertise through hands-on advisory, a broad corporate network, and an investor database to deepen relationships with our founders. Additionally, with our Catalyst Network, we’re activating our expert advisory network to accelerate support for our 150+ portfolio companies and community. We’re also building on nearly a decade of venture investing by developing industry-specific funds, exploring larger follow-on funds, and leading small private equity transactions.
Contributor Bio
Kaitlyn Doyle is a Vice President at TechNexus Venture Collaborative, a VC firm that partners with corporations to invest in early-stage businesses. She leads the investment team, overseeing sourcing, due diligence, post-investment collaboration, deal syndication, and venture operations. Prior to TechNexus, Kaitlyn was an early employee at IrishAngels, a Notre Dame-affiliated angel network, where she helped grow the network to over 200 individual investors and 30+ investments. Kaitlyn is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago – Booth School of Business.