TechNexus

Building Startup Ecosystems That Generate New Insights And Growth

In today’s digital environment, corporations must continuously evolve, adding to their core business while bringing to market new products, services, and rethinking revenue models. The rigorous efforts to stay ahead of nimble startups, and competitors is a complex and challenging endeavor ripe with opportunity. Still, it isn’t easy, and going after it alone is near impossible. Leading corporations realize that unlocking new growth comes from harnessing the power of external and internal ecosystems. For over a decade, TechNexus keeps our finger-on-the-pulse of the global, ever-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, because it’s in our DNA. We’re entrepreneurs. We’re investors. We’re force multipliers.

Actualizing growth starts with opportunity and we’re creating those opportunities by aligning startups and enterprises to drive commercial activity that solves real-world problems; we call this Venture-Enabled Growth. In collaboration with our network of partners, we successfully grow startups worldwide and across many high-growth industries, like Agriculture, Audio/Visual, Aviation, Construction, Energy, Logistics, Maritime, Mining, Oil & Gas, Public Safety, Rail, Recreational Vehicles, Smart Cities, and Trucking.

For enterprises, entrepreneurial access through Venture-Enabled Growth unlocks unique foresight into emerging trends and consumer behavior. For startups on their journey to exit, meaningful corporate partnerships provide invaluable market knowledge, pilot opportunities, product co-development, sales and distribution channels, cross-marketing, and promotion.

From our unique perspective, one thing is clear, developing bespoke startup ecosystems is the surest way to access real growth. Ecosystem collaboration has been our ‘true north’ from the beginning, in 2007, and it’s as relevant today as it was then and will remain relevant into the next decade and beyond. Because in our global economy collaboration is a mandate, not an option.

OUR JOURNEY TO 1,000
WHERE WE’VE BEEN

2007, TechNexus, one of Chicago’s first technology incubators and coworking facilities, founded by Fred Hoch and Terry Howerton, two serial entrepreneurs at
the forefront of Chicago’s booming tech movement. It builds on the legacy created by the Illinois Technology Association which they founded in 2005.
2011, Established more formal and programmatic incubation and services to startups, including direct capital investment.
2014, The doors to the impressive 65,000 square foot Collaboration Center, the epicenter of our ecosystem, open in downtown Chicago at the historic Civic Opera Building. Also marks the moment we incubated 500 companies, who raised a total of over $500M in venture funding.
2016, refined and validated our corporate Venture Collaborative model, building bespoke startups ecosystems around leading corporations to rethink growth.
2017, Establish our first Corporate Joint Venture with Shure Incorporated.
2017, Make our first investment.
2018, Venture growth gains momentum with TechNexus participating in $150M+ of funding for 36 companies.
2018, Expansion into the European market with the opening of TechNexus Paris allows us to offer a more profound contribution to the global venture ecosystem.
2018, Host the inaugural Nexus Summit, a collaborative 2-day event bringing together innovation thought leaders from 50+ enterprises.

WHERE WE ARE

2019, Establish our fifth Corporate Joint Venture with a leading heavy manufacturer, they join Brunswick Corporation, Life Fitness, AAR, and Shure Incorporated.
2019, Venture growth accelerates to over
$425M of funding for 58 companies.
2019, The TechNexus Global Team expands to over 20 employees between Chicago and Paris.

WHERE WE ARE GOING

2020, Investible capital through corporate joint ventures reach $50m annually.
2020, Launch our first $60M Advantaged LP fund for follow-on ventures.
2025, 1,000 strategically sourced, venture investments complete and over $40B in collaborative growth revenue generated.