About This Fund
11 Tribes Ventures Fund II is a $46 million early-stage venture capital fund headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, managed by 11 Tribes Ventures. The firm was founded by Managing Partner Mark Phillips and General Partner Kristina Chapple with a philosophy called Radical Relational Investment — a founder-first approach that treats founders as whole people rather than merely business operators. The name '11 Tribes' reflects the firm's ethos of community-building, cross-sector collaboration, and inclusive investment across diverse industries throughout the United States. Fund II marks an evolution for the firm, transitioning from a follow-on investor to a lead investor, stepping into the majority of its funding rounds and taking a more active role in shaping portfolio outcomes.
Fund II targets early-stage companies pursuing a clear path to profitability and comfortable with exit values in the $75 million to $250 million range — a segment the team believes is systematically underserved by larger venture funds chasing unicorn outcomes. The portfolio reflects a generalist mandate spanning legal technology, real estate services, food and nutrition brands, waste management, insurance, and childcare, with a strong emphasis on founder-market fit and broader societal impact. A defining differentiator is the Handshake Agreement, which formalizes the human relationship between investor and founder, and an allocation of 2% of invested capital as non-dilutive grants to portfolio founders for coaching, counseling, therapy, and organizational health support.
Fund II closed at its final target of $46 million in April 2025. At close, the firm had already selected nine portfolio companies — NuTrād, NQS, Legal Karma, Lease Up, GoNanas, Evercycle, Circadian Risk, Kidsy, and Alloy — with a goal of backing 30 companies over the following 36 months. The fund's emphasis on founder wellness, values alignment, and sub-unicorn exit targets positions 11 Tribes Ventures within a growing cohort of human-centered venture strategies differentiating from traditional Silicon Valley models.