IVCA Profile: Recipient of The IVCA Rising Star Award is M25 Ventures, honored at the IVCA Awards Dinner

For the 25th Anniversary year, the IVCA recently honored their 2025 awardees at the IVCA Awards Dinner – which took place on December 8th – and the recipient of the IVCA Rising Star Award was M25 Ventures, represented by Managing Partner Victor Gutwein. The Rising Star Award recognizes the firm that demonstrate exceptional promise and leadership in the Illinois investment ecosystem.

M25 is an early-stage venture firm based in Chicago, investing exclusively in tech startups headquartered in the Midwest. Since its launch in 2015, the firm has become the most active investor in the region. Their unique and analytical approach to venture investing aims to reduce risk while maintaining the high returns typically associated with this stage of investing. Emphasizing expansive networks and collaboration, the firm helps to syndicate deals that encourages fair terms as best practice, while at the same time prioritizing relationships.

The IVCA recently interviewed M25, through Managing Partner Victor Gutwein.

IVCA: The IVCA Rising Star Award acknowledges your ascending status as a firm and its contributions to the Illinois investment infrastructure. Within the firm’s philosophy, how does Illinois create the ideal environment for first stage investment and beyond?

M25: Illinois has the combination early-stage investors look for … a deep and diverse talent pool, world-class universities, a strong base of corporate innovation partners and a history of producing massive tech unicorns. Chicago has become the largest Midwest hub where founders can access capital, talent and customers without the cost barriers of the coasts. For M25, Illinois has consistently produced founders who are both ambitious and resourceful, aligning closely with our core philosophy of backing operators in overlooked markets. 

IVCA: The firm has established the annual Club M25 Summit in Illinois, which is the largest gathering of VCs in the Midwest. What have you observed about this Summit’s success that is both advantageous to the participants and the State in general?

M25: The Club M25 Summit has quickly grown into the largest gathering of investors in the Midwest because it fills a real need – a centralized, high-quality forum for founders and VCs to connect. By hosting it in Illinois, we’re able to highlight Chicago’s role as the region’s investment hub. The Summit not only benefits attendees by driving meaningful deal flow and relationships, but it also brings national attention and activity into the state, showcasing the Midwest, and especially Illinois, as a premier home for innovation.

IVCA: A significant percentage of your investments are rooted in Illinois or Illinois-tied ventures. From the beginnings of the firm to now, how has the expansiveness of these investments proved that Illinois is a great place to do business?

M25: Being headquartered in Chicago, Illinois has been a core part of our investment strategy since day one. A significant portion of our portfolio companies are based in Illinois, spanning industries from enterprise software to healthcare to logistics. Their growth demonstrates that companies can scale here, hire here, and succeed here. The number of flywheel founders emerging from successful Illinois startups as well as the concentration of core industries in the state have primed Illinois for being a hotbed of startup activity.

IVCA: You also have a philosophy of establishing networks and local cooperatives as part of your operations to expand your ecosystem and community. Beyond the Summit, what has proved effective in reaching out to the broader business world to encourage group interaction and cooperation?

M25: We’ve invested heavily in relationship-driven community building. This includes our Midwest Startups platform, Match Week – our virtual version of the Summit – and our ‘M25 & Friends’ Happy Hours that we host throughout the region. The Midwest wins when we create more surface area for people to meet each other. The more we facilitate connections, the more collaboration and innovation we see across the region.

IVCA: Since the honor is attached to a Rising Star, what does the future hold for M25 that will continue to innovate your Venture Capital investing and continue your success as a firm?

M25: M25 is entering its next chapter with a focus on expanding our investment capacity, deepening our founder support model and continuing to lead the Midwest’s early-stage ecosystem. We continue to expand our network with the recent addition of Venture Partners, plan to increase our presence in emerging Midwest markets and continue to elevate the Midwest as a center for innovation. Basically Rising Star is a recognition of where we’ve been and we’re going.

IVCA: What does it mean to the firm to be recognized as a Rising Star from your peers in the Illinois Venture Capital Association?

M25: Being recognized by the IVCA is an incredible honor, because it comes from peers who understand the effort required to build a firm, support founders and strengthen the Illinois ecosystem. Illinois has been foundational for our strategy and growth, so being honored as a Rising Star reflects both the work of our team and the momentum of the region we’re proud to serve. It reinforces our commitment to investing in Illinois and the Midwest for years to come.