Chicago:Blend and Illinois State Treasurer’s Office Partner to Develop Diversity Data Collection Standards for Portfolio Companies
CHICAGO—The non-profit organization Chicago:Blend and the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer announced today a partnership to develop new data collection standards and best practices to help venture capital (VC) and investment firms measure diversity amongst their portfolio companies.
In 2016, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs formally launched the Illinois Growth & Innovation Fund (ILGIF), a $1 billion evergreen impact investment fund that invests in ways to attract, assist, and retain quality tech-enabled businesses in Illinois. ILGIF accomplishes this by making targeted investments with venture capital, growth equity, and private venture debt firms that have a significant nexus to the State of Illinois.
“In continuation of our steadfast effort to foster a diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial and venture ecosystem, we understand the importance of effectively and efficiently tracking diversity gains and metrics in our investment portfolios,” said Treasurer Frerichs. “This partnership with Chicago:Blend enables us to develop and set improved best practices for data collection that supports our values of optimizing transparency while driving strong investment outcomes for the State of Illinois.”
Founded in 2018 by local venture capitalists to bring more women and underrepresented professionals into tech, Chicago:Blend began tracking diversity gains at local venture capital firms and among venture-backed companies two years ago, in partnership with the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, to raise awareness about gender and racial disparities within the industry.
“The venture capital firms we work with understand the importance of driving greater diversity among the founders and startups they fund. This partnership brings our community of VCs to the table to create common diversity data fields and industry best practices for data gathering, which will allow investment firms to better understand their progress and set goals,” said Chicago:Blend Executive Director Joey Mak.
The partnership will be a focus at ILGIF’s Annual Summit on July 29, which will be held virtually. In the coming months, Chicago:Blend and ILGIF will work collaboratively with the Polsky Center on developing these new data standards and best practices, which will be publicly available in the fall.
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About Chicago:Blend: Chicago:Blend is a non-profit organization founded by venture capitalists to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in Chicago’s VC and startup community. Through data collection, awareness building, and programs, Chicago:Blend is committed to increasing participation of underestimated and overlooked professionals in local tech.
About Illinois Growth & Innovation Fund: Established by Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs, the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund is an evergreen, $1 billion impact investment fund that makes targeted investments in venture capital, growth equity and private debt firms with a nexus to the State of Illinois. The main objectives of the fund are to drive investment performance for the State of Illinois, spur economic development across Illinois’ local economy, and to cultivate a truly diverse and inclusive venture capital ecosystem here in Illinois. ILGIF aims to invest more than $1 billion on a recurring basis creating an estimated 60,000 jobs per investment cycle. ILGIF has been at the forefront of increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion within the venture capital ecosystem, with over 45% of its committed capital to date invested with venture capital firms led by women and people of color.