Q1 2024 Update

As you can see from the updates below, there’s a lot going on at the portfolio companies. After the ups and downs of the last few years, things feel relatively stable so far this year, with more consistent targets for companies to shoot for. Several portfolio companies are quietly reaching inflection points which have been really exciting to see.

New Investments

Network Ventures invested in its 32nd portfolio company in March, a pre-seed stage, membership-oriented business whose founder I’ve known for years. The investment hasn’t been made public yet, but I look forward to sharing more soon.

Portfolio Updates

• Tandem (2023 investment) launched its Goals feature set, announced its $3.7m seed raise and was covered in TechCrunch.
• WithMe (2016) hired Jeff Lail as Chief Operations Officer.
• KPI Sense (2021) announced Daniel Palay as new Chief Executive Officer.
• Shipbob (2016) added Adam DeWitt as its first independent board director and published its 2024 State of Ecommerce Fulfillment report.
• Showdrop (2023) was named as one of the 24 Chicago Startups to Watch in 2024 by Chicago Inno.
• Parentaly’s (2022) core focus - helping employers and employees with parental leave, was the subject of a Wall Street Journal article.
• Honeycomb Credit (2022) released its 2023 Impact Report. Since 2018, Honeycomb’s community has invested over $23m in 426 offerings for small businesses.
• Hunt Club (2018) released its 2024 Talent Survey Insight that polled nearly a thousand job seekers and corporate professionals regarding the challenges of traditional recruitment.

About Network Ventures

Network Ventures is a Midwest-based, seed-stage venture capital firm focused on companies building network effects. Network Ventures typically invests in companies that are raising their first $500k-2.0m and often leads the round. We help companies grow from seed to Series A by providing capital, expertise and access to a broad network of companies and resources. For more information, go to www.networkventures.com.

Network Ventures is Raising!

Network Ventures is looking for investors that are passionate about supporting the Midwest startup ecosystem to fuel innovation and change (and make some money along the way). We are building a diverse network of Limited Partners that bring not only capital, but their own unique perspectives that can be helpful to our community. Email me or check out our rolling fund page on AngelList to learn more.