The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Nancy Sullivan, CEO, Illinois Ventures
Since Nancy Sullivan took over in 2013 as CEO of Illinois Ventures – the company set up in 2002 to drive spinout creation at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) – there has been a sharp increase in funding available to the institution’s startups.
As part of this improved financing environment, the firm earlier this year announced it had raised its third fund, the $15m Illinois Emerging Technologies Fund III, for UIC. Its predecessor funds were launched in 2004 and 2009.
Among the latest fund’s initial investments were Revolution Medicines, a UIC drug discovery spinout, and healthtech firm Apertiva. At the launch, Sullivan said the new fund was likely to focus on startups in the medical and engineering spaces.
Before taking her role at Illinois Ventures, Sullivan was director of UIC’s office of technology management. The business has deployed $52m of capital to date among companies that have attracted $1.46bn in additional investment – a remarkable ratio of 28:1.
