Company Profile
Motivate Venture Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Chicago, Illinois, that empowers ambitious founders to realize their vision. The firm specializes in pre-seed and seed-stage investments, typically targeting $250,000 to $1 million for pre-seed opportunities and $1.5 million to $3 million for seed rounds. Beyond capital, Motivate Ventures provides experience, connections, and strategic support to nascent companies with significant growth potential. The firm also actively invests in and supports formidable emerging pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital funds, fostering a broader venture ecosystem.
Motivate Ventures was co-founded in 2019 by David Wieland and Lauren DeLuca, two seasoned investors with extensive entrepreneurial backgrounds. David Wieland is a serial technology entrepreneur who previously founded and successfully exited companies like InnFlux and RIVS, and co-founded IrishAngels, an angel investor group. Lauren DeLuca's operating career spans technology and capital markets, having co-founded FinTech firms such as Oxford Intelligence Partners and Victory Networks. Their combined experience in building and investing in early-stage companies forms the foundation of Motivate's approach.
The firm's investment philosophy centers on backing incredible founders with strong domain knowledge who are tackling real, durable problems in large and growing markets. Motivate Ventures focuses primarily on B2B software and automation for legacy industries, including financial services, manufacturing, and insurance. Their portfolio includes companies developing cloud-based ERP for small manufacturers, earned wage access solutions, AI models for data extraction, AI-driven manufacturing platforms, and crypto and financial market visibility software. Notable recent investments include Rowan, an AI-powered platform for small business succession.
The Motivate Ventures team comprises experienced investors and operators, including General Partner Andy Will, Partner Jackson Bubala, and Head of Platform Courtney Trunk, along with Chief Operations Officer Bonnie Kearns. The team's diverse backgrounds from firms like Zeal Capital Partners, Manifold Group, Centana Growth Partners, and Chicago Ventures contribute to their hands-on approach in supporting founders across various sectors, particularly in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Manufacturing and Supply Chain SaaS, B2B Marketplaces, and Insurance technology.
News & Signals (0)
No linked news activity found for this company.