# KB Partners

> KB Partners is a VC fund in Highland Park backing Sports and Software. See 80 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Highland Park, United States
- Total investments: 80
- Last investment: Feb 2026
- Lead investor: 57%
- Fund size: $127M
- Last fund: May 2021
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kb-partners
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/KBPartnersVC
- Website: http://www.kbpartners.com

KB Partners is a suburban Chicago based investment firm focused on early stage venture capital investments. KB’s principals take an active approach in helping to build dominant new enterprises by working in partnership with talented entrepreneurs and experienced managers.The firm is currently investing out of KB Partners Myriad Opportunity Fund I& II, which invests in passionate innovators at the intersection of sports and technology.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for KB Partners. Shizune tracks 5 team members at KB Partners. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/kb-partners?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $1.1M–$5.5M |
| Series A | $3.5M–$12M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sports | 15 | 19% |
| Software | 11 | 14% |
| Information Technology | 8 | 10% |
| Media and Entertainment | 7 | 9% |
| Gaming | 6 | 8% |

106 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 30 | 38% |
| Series A | 12 | 15% |
| Funding Round | 9 | 11% |
| Series B | 6 | 8% |
| Series C | 3 | 4% |

9 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 42 | 53% |
| Canada | 2 | 3% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 3% |
| France | 1 | 1% |
| Israel | 1 | 1% |

6 countries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Lance Dietz | Partner | 13 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lance-dietz |
| Stephan Ahern | Partner | 13 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/stephan-ahern |
| John Garabedian | Partner | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-garabedian-ca69 |
| Keith Bank | Founder & Managing Partner | 14 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/keith-bank |
| Matt Howard | Principal | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/matt-howard-8699 |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SportIQ | SportIQ is a sports tracking and analytics platform providing tracking solutions for sports, analytics, and broadcast integration. The company also provides customized video services for advanced data collection and analysis through the real-time player, team, and equipment tracking. | $6.2M | Series A | Feb 19, 2026 |  |
| The Realest | The Realest is an online auction website that offers next-generation authentication standard and marketplace for entertainment memorabilia. | $12M | Series A | Jan 28, 2026 |  |
| VOW | VOW is a vertical SaaS future-of-work platform that enables sports, media, and entertainment professionals to streamline event and guest management, by eliminating massive fragmentation from stacking disjointed tools, integrating seating, ticketing, communications, and stakeholder interactions, saving 33% in operational costs while dramaticallyenhancing guest experiences at scale. |  | Seed | Aug 07, 2025 |  |
| nVenue | nVenue’s unmatched technology leverages the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence to quickly and accurately generate probabilities for every outcome of a play. | $6M |  | Mar 03, 2025 |  |
| Symitri | Symitri is the integrated privacy firewall and real-time data cleanroom for the open web. | $5M | Series A | May 20, 2024 |  |
| The Realest | The Realest is an online auction website that offers next-generation authentication standard and marketplace for entertainment memorabilia. | $4.6M | Seed | Dec 28, 2023 |  |
| Rypplzz | Through Interlife™, our mission is to advance humanity by spatially engineering the flow of the environment to create optimal efficiency. Interlife™ enables unique location-based experiences and transforms physical spaces into smart environments with precise geolocation and enhanced connectivity. The evolving use and omnipresence of connecteddevices and the increasing demand for experiential content, including mixed reality, are resulting in an exponentially increasing need for Interlife™ and its applications.Rypplzz partners with investors who like to back companies creating breakthrough proprietary tech and are on a mission to build a more sustainable world. | $3M | Seed | Dec 14, 2023 |  |
| Tixologi | Tixologi’s blockchain-based ticketing software is putting event organizers in control of their own ticketing experience. | $925K | Seed | Nov 22, 2023 |  |
| OMORPHO | OMORPHO manufactures and sells Gravity Sportswear™ - revolutionary weighted training gear that helps any athlete reach their goals faster. | $3M | Seed | Nov 13, 2023 |  |
| C15 Studio | C15 Studio is a streaming TV channel operator that offers free ad-supported television channels dedicated to sports. |  | Seed | Oct 01, 2023 |  |

10 of 80 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Sharp Alpha](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sharp-alpha-advisors) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Connetic Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/connetic-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Drive by DraftKings](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/drive-by-draftkings) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Canaan Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/canaan-partners) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Courtside Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/courtside-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together

## Similar investors

### Similar industry
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### Similar stage
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### Similar country
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
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## Featured in investor lists
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## FAQ

### What does KB Partners invest in?

KB Partners invests primarily in Sports, Software and Information Technology startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 80 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is KB Partners's check size?

KB Partners typically joins rounds of $1.1M–$5.5M at Seed and $3.5M–$12M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds KB Partners participates in.

### How do I contact KB Partners?

Public channels for KB Partners 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 KB Partners?

The team at KB Partners includes Lance Dietz (Partner), Stephan Ahern (Partner) and John Garabedian (Partner). 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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