Venture Fund Launched by Grubhub and Cameo Veterans Focused on Chicago

The 81 Collection, a venture capital firm based in Chicago, has raised $41 million for its first fund to invest in what it calls "hard industries". This firm is backed by veterans from Grubhub and Cameo.

Vijen Patel, founding partner of a Chicago-based firm, expressed in an interview that the company is looking to invest in local sectors such as manufacturing, real estate, retail, and construction. The purpose of this is to revolutionize the industries that make up 81% of the US economy, which are typically low-margin and require a lot of capital. To do this, the firm is utilizing automation, artificial intelligence, and smart hardware.

Patel expressed that many entrepreneurs in difficult industries have a common experience of being undervalued in the beginning and then becoming highly sought after later on. He has a strong desire to address this problem.

Updating hard industries can be a challenge due to their intricate nature.

He suggested that if everyone worked together, they could reduce the time it usually takes to make the flywheel from four years to three, increasing the chances of success.

The 81 Collection takes its name from the group of entrepreneur investors that it works with. These investors offer guidance, connections, and support to the executives of the portfolio companies, allowing them to expand their operations more rapidly. One of the co-founders of the 81 Collection is Patel, who was the CEO of Pressbox, a fabric-care company based in Chicago. In 2018, Procter & Gamble Co. acquired Pressbox.

The group consists of Mike Evans, co-founder of Grubhub and founder of Fixer, Jackson Jhin, CEO of Protege and former CFO of Cameo, and Dhruv Saxena and Divey Gulati, co-founders of ShipBob. Institutional investors include the Pritzker family office DNS Capital and the State of Illinois, according to Patel.

Charles Tollinche, Managing Director of DNS Capital, expressed his belief that 81 Collection's strategy of investing in startups in sectors that are not typically supported by traditional financing sources, and utilizing their founder network to accelerate an entrepreneur's learning process and spur growth, is a unique approach in the market.

Established in 2021, the 81 Collection is a venture capital firm with a full-time team of five staff members. They make initial investments ranging from $500,000 to $1.5 million. To date, the firm has made nine investments, including CarmaCare, a car-care subscription service, and Mezo, a home maintenance automation provider.