# Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV)

> Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) is a VC fund backing B2B and E-Commerce. See 23 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Chicago, United States
- Total investments: 23
- Last investment: Sep 2025
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chicagoearly/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/chicagoegv
- Website: http://www.chicagoearly.com
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/chicagoearly

Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) is a VC fund in Chicago focused on B2B and E-Commerce. Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) invests in early-stage startup companies, with a particular focus on Chicago-based entities.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV). Shizune tracks 2 team members at Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV). Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/chicago-early-growth-ventures-cegv?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| B2B | 4 | 17% |
| E-Commerce | 4 | 17% |
| SaaS | 3 | 13% |
| Software | 3 | 13% |
| Health Care | 3 | 13% |

70 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 14 | 61% |
| Pre-Seed | 7 | 30% |
| Series A | 1 | 4% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 4% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Brian Crump | Founder & Principal | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brian-crump |
| Jeffrey Eschbach | Founder & Principal | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jeffrey-eschbach |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SafeHill |  | $2.6M | Pre-Seed | Sep 25, 2025 |  |
| Bonsai | Bonsai brings crucial first-party intelligence to marketing and activates against it. | $1.8M | Seed | Jul 17, 2025 |  |
| Bonsai Data Solutions | Bonsai brings critical 1P intelligence to marketing, and activates against it.Bonsai achieves this by: Designing 1st Party Data: custom configured analytics & tech Unifying 1st Party Data: marketing, business and customer analytics Utilizing 1st Party Data: digital marketing activation, incrementality, and automation1P Data \| Tech \|Intelligence \| Activation Full Service Strategy & PracticeBeliefs: Data needs a strategy to become an asset. Marketing needs data science to become intelligent. Technology needs cultivation to be truly effective.Learn more: www.bonsai.llc | $2M |  | Jun 26, 2025 |  |
| Levee | Levee is a technology company offering an innovative solution to the hotel industry. It provides a cloud-based, end-to-end technology platform designed specifically for hotels. | $600K | Pre-Seed | Oct 01, 2023 |  |
| Taelor | Taelor is a Silicon Valley-based fashion industry start-up founded by Anya Cheng, ex Facebook and Target Lead who led teams to build Facebook Shopping and Target eCommerce and a current Northwestern University faculty member. Taelor is a revolutionary new way for men to rent clothes, allowing them to look and feel great every day while alsoreducing their carbon footprint. The service uses a combination of Artificial Intelligence and personal stylists to select clothes for men based on their sizes and personal preferences. The clothes are shipped directly to customers, who can either wear them for two weeks and return them or purchase the clothes for up to 70% off the regular retail price. Customers then receive another box of clothes.“Our goal is to provide individuals with stylish, everyday menswear. We believe that every day is an opportunity to look good and feel confident,” said Cheng, a former digital product lead at Facebook, eBay and Target. “And when you rent clothes instead of buying them, you not only save the time and energy of having to search and shop for clothes, but you also help the environment, too, instead of purchasing clothes that will eventually end up in a landfill.”Cheng has a strong background in both the digital and retail space. A TEDx Talk speaker and best-selling book author, Cheng spent 15 years leading digital innovation teams at Facebook, eBay, Target, McDonald’s and Sears before launching Taelor.Cheng said she originally got the idea to start a clothing rental subscription service for men after becoming a huge fan of other clothing rental subscription services herself. “I became such a fan of renting clothes that I haven’t purchased any clothes for myself except for underwear for the past five years,” Cheng says. “But I realized that none of the clothing rental services really served menswear nor focuses on helping people to achieve career or personal goals in their everyday life, and I thought, men should be able to enjoy this service too so they can feel ready and confident for their day.” The popularity of sustainability practices, minimalism, and no-ownership trends have caused the clothing rental business model to explode in recent years, with some analysts projecting that the Circular Fashion industry, which includes rental and resale, could earn as much as $66 billion by 2024 in the U.S. alone.Taelor gives customers the option to choose between two different subscription packages. The first option is a flat, monthly fee, where customers get two boxes per month, which include four shirts per box. The second option is for customers to pay a one-time fee, where customers receive three boxes in total, with four shirts per box. Both options include complimentary personalized styling, dry cleaning, and shipping both ways — making the process of renting and returning clothing easy and effortless.It’s a service that is a perfect solution for busy individuals who don’t want to spend time shopping or picking out their clothes. “I want to look good, but I don't really want to spend time shopping,” says Danny Ma, one of Taelor’s first customers. “I considered clothing subscription boxes for years, but I didn’t want to commit to buying something from each box. After using Taelor, I am much more confident!” For more information about Taelor, please visit https://taelor.style. For investment inquiries or schedule media interview, please contact hi@taelor.ai | $2.3M | Pre-Seed | Apr 28, 2022 |  |
| Koloni | Koloni is a hardware-agnostic smart locker platform. A suite of products that enable delivery networks, luggage storage solutions, asset management tracking, and more. | $1.3M | Seed | Mar 29, 2022 |  |
| Aramid Technologies | Aramid Technologies is a subscription supplier collaboration platform that is taking the paper and the work out of supply chain paperwork. Its flagship product, SmartCert®, streamlines the laborious and error prone process of preparing and exchanging quality certifications. SmartCert serves as the foundation for the future of digitizing andautomating compliance documentation in global supply chains. | $2M | Seed | Feb 08, 2022 |  |
| Reharvest Provisions | Reharvest Provisions produces plant-based smoothie pops. It consists of whole foods that are nutrient- and fiber-dense for the gut, including fruits, vegetables, and superfoods. | $1.5M | Seed | Jan 06, 2022 |  |
| AMOpportunities | AMOpportunities connects international medical students and graduates with U.S. physicians and institutions for clinical experiences. The company's platform offers individuals the opportunity to explore and apply for clinical experiences at 200+ clinical sites across 70+ medical specialties and subspecialties. AMO provides exceptionalsupport services such as visa and housing assistance.It was founded in 2013 and based in Chicago, Illinois. | $7.4M | Series A | Dec 16, 2021 |  |
| ReloShare | ReloShare is the first and only alias-based hotel booking platform for government and social services organizations. The company's software includes capabilities such as real-time inventory display, client booking, short-term financing via consolidated invoicing, and more. ReloShare's real-time instant booking transforms a time-consumingprocedure now measured in days into a simple process measured in minutes. The Grove maximizes efficiency for existing shelter networks as a SaaS shelter availability sharing tool. | $550K | Pre-Seed | Nov 01, 2021 |  |

10 of 23 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Bridge Venture Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bridge-venture-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Elevate Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/elevate-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Everywhere Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/everywhere-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [LAUNCH](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/launch-co) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Lofty Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lofty-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Sandalphon Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sandalphon-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) invest in?

Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) invests primarily in B2B, E-Commerce and SaaS startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 23 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV)?

Public channels for Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV)?

The team at Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) includes Brian Crump (Founder & Principal) and Jeffrey Eschbach (Founder & Principal). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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