# Lightbank

> Lightbank is a VC fund in Chicago backing Software and E-Commerce. See 218 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Chicago, United States
- Total investments: 218
- Last investment: Jul 2026
- Lead investor: 37%
- Last fund: Sep 2024
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightbank
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/lightbank
- Website: http://www.lightbank.com

Lightbank is a VC fund in Chicago focused on Software and E-Commerce. Lightbank VC is a $700M AUM venture fund that invests in early-stage vertically focused AI, consumer, enterprise, healthcare, crypto, fintech and climate companies. It focuses on pre-seed, seed and Series A opportunities where they write initial checks between $250k - $5m. They have invested in over 150 companies such as Tempus, Udemy, Fiverr(NYSE: FVRR), Sprout Social (NYSE: SPRT), Boom Supersonic, Tastytrade (acq. $1B+), Extend, Attain, Paytient and Expel.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Lightbank. Shizune tracks 8 team members at Lightbank. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/lightbank?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $750k–$5.3M |
| Series A | $1.5M–$20M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 29 | 13% |
| E-Commerce | 27 | 12% |
| Mobile | 23 | 11% |
| Internet | 13 | 6% |
| SaaS | 12 | 6% |

217 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 76 | 35% |
| Series A | 53 | 24% |
| Funding Round | 25 | 11% |
| Pre-Seed | 18 | 8% |
| Series B | 17 | 8% |

9 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 131 | 60% |
| United Kingdom | 4 | 2% |
| Canada | 3 | 1% |
| Israel | 2 | 1% |
| Ireland | 1 | 0% |

6 countries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bill Pescatello | Advisor or General Partner | 23 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bill-pescatello |
| Brad Baum | VC | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brad-baum |
| Bradley Keywell | Co-Founder & Managing Partner | 26 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brad-keywell |
| Eric Lefkofsky | Co-founder & Managing Partner | 84 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eric-lefkofsky |
| Eric Ong | Partner | 21 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eric-ong-2 |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Valarian Technologies | We’re on a mission to help enterprises ensure their communication tools are secure, compliant and efficient.Valarian’s software allows multinational organisations to make the communication tools they already use compliant with data sovereignty, protection and privacy laws across jurisdictions worldwide. Valarian’s resilient, scalable platform canbe deployed into any environment (on-prem, cloud, or hybrid) and easily integrates with existing business collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp, harmonising compliance, security and efficiency. | $50M | Series A | Jul 13, 2026 |  |
| Letter AI | Letter AI empowers revenue teams to close more deals quickly and effectively with our all-in-one platform powered by generative AI. We offer AI-driven training and coaching, seamless content management and creation, real-time support from an AI co-pilot, and engaging deal rooms for buyers. | $40M | Series B | Feb 24, 2026 |  |
| Bearing | Bearing is a software company that provides physical security solutions. | $4.5M | Seed | Feb 12, 2026 |  |
| Campus Ink - NIL Store | Campus Ink is a merch platform designed specifically for students and athletes. It is a licensed, open platform where college athletes can finally earn the money they deserve. | $3M | Seed | Jan 12, 2026 |  |
| Kargo | Kargo's mission is to build a connective tissue between the physical world of freight and the digital ecosystem used to manage it. Kargo believes that advancements in smart infrastructure are critical to enabling a safer and more efficient future for logistics. Kargo's loading dock sensor platform verifies all incoming and outgoingfreight, aggregating data that enables shippers and carriers to efficiently manage dock operations, switch out suppliers and understand material flow in real time.Kargo was formerly known as Cognisense. It was founded in 2019 and based in San Francisco, California. | $42M | Series B | Dec 22, 2025 |  |
| SpatialGen | SpatialGen provides a cloud infrastructure platform for the spatial computing industry |  | Seed | Dec 22, 2025 |  |
| Letter AI | Letter AI empowers revenue teams to close more deals quickly and effectively with our all-in-one platform powered by generative AI. We offer AI-driven training and coaching, seamless content management and creation, real-time support from an AI co-pilot, and engaging deal rooms for buyers. | $10.6M | Series A | Oct 21, 2025 |  |
| TandemStride | TandemStride provides genuine, individualized support to survivors and their loved ones, whether in the form of a peer mentor with training, resources, or just someone who knows what it's like to be in recovery. | $5.5M | Seed | Sep 08, 2025 |  |
| Pearl Edison | Pearl Edison is an internet marketplace company that specializes in home electrical and energy-efficiency projects. | $3.3M | Seed | Aug 01, 2025 |  |
| Kilsar | Kilsar provides various services such as prototyping, developing, and commercializing innovative solutions. | $3.7M | Seed | Jul 16, 2025 |  |

10 of 218 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [New Enterprise Associates](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/new-enterprise-associates) — VC Fund, 11 deals together
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Hyde Park Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hyde-park-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Y Combinator](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/y-combinator) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Cultivation Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cultivation-capital) — VC Fund, 7 deals together
- [Everywhere Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/everywhere-ventures) — VC Fund, 7 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Lightbank invest in?

Lightbank invests primarily in Software, E-Commerce and Mobile startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 218 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 Lightbank's check size?

Lightbank typically joins rounds of $750k–$5.3M at Seed and $1.5M–$20M 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 Lightbank participates in.

### How do I contact Lightbank?

Public channels for Lightbank 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 Lightbank?

The team at Lightbank includes Bill Pescatello (Advisor or General Partner), Brad Baum (VC) and Bradley Keywell (Co-Founder & Managing Partner), among 8 team members tracked by Shizune. 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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