Inside Chicago:Blend's mission to bring more diverse voices into venture capital

Chicago:Blend is changing how Chicago’s startup investors of tomorrow navigate the city’s VC scene.

Depending on who you are, you may see three different sides of the Chicago VC ecosystem. From one vantage point, there is a clear path filled with connections and simple access to resources. From another, though you have an idea of the requirements and expectations, the journey is foggy and full of uncertainties. Lastly, there is invisibility, where access to the city’s venture ecosystem is a total black box, forcing some to question whether they belong in the industry at all. Joey Mak (pictured, right), CEO of Chicago:Blend , a non-profit working to create a more inclusive venture capital and entrepreneurial ecosystem, understands this predicament for aspiring venture capitalists — especially those who come from non-traditional backgrounds. Mak, a son of two first-generation Cambodian immigrants and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, is looking to change how Chicago’s startup investors of tomorrow navigate the city’s VC scene. Chicago:Blend’s story began before Mak officially joined in 2021. Founded in 2018 by a local group of venture capitalists led by Lindsay Knight, Chicago:Blend rooted its early work in data, seeking to understand who was getting funded, who was writing checks, who was missing from the room. Momentum kicked in following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Mak said. It was that moment when Chicago:Blend decided to become a 501(c)(3), raise some money, and bring someone onboard to figure out what structured programming needed to look like. For Chicago:Blend, the right person was Mak. Working for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce at the time, Mak joined Chicago:Blend in 2021 with deep experiences in economic development and civic innovations. Mak didn’t come from the world of venture capital, but he knew that the bottleneck comes down not to a lack of talent but often a lack of opportunity. “I've spent much of my career in rooms that weren't designed with me in mind — and more often than not, as the only person there who shared my backgroun

By Alex Chen at TechNexus Venture Collaborative