Phil Leslie

Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) invests in early-stage startup companies, with a particular focus on Chicago-based entities. We will consider investments in almost any sector and demographic, but we give preference to companies based in Chicago or with founders who are students or alumni of Chicago-based higher education institutions (Northwestern, University of Chicago, Loyola, etc.) Though investment is our primary purpose, we also seek to build and develop relationships among our investors, other investor organizations, and with founders, entrepreneurs and educational institutions in Chicago.

Chicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV) invests in early-stage startup companies, with a particular focus on Chicago-based entities. We will consider investments in almost any sector and demographic, but we give preference to companies based in Chicago or with founders who are students or alumni of Chicago-based higher education institutions (Northwestern, University of Chicago, Loyola, etc.) Though investment is our primary purpose, we also seek to build and develop relationships among our investors, other investor organizations, and with founders, entrepreneurs and educational institutions in Chicago.

Workbox is a national workspace operator and platform for professionals to connect. In addition to office space, we offer connection to investors, professional specialists, and high growth businesses across all of our locations. Our workspace products include private offices, reserved desks, floating access, as well as meeting and event space. Workbox has 13 locations in 7 cities across the U.S., and is one of the fastest-growing operators in the country.

Endeavor is the leading global network of, by, and for high-impact entrepreneurs innovating Elsewhere. We support 3,000+ high-growth, high-impact entrepreneurs across 50+ markets.

TechNexus Venture Collaborative (TechNexus) invests in relationships between leading corporations and ambitious entrepreneurs to Rethink Growth™. A first-of-its-kind Venture Collaborative, TechNexus follows a relationship-driven approach to scouting, investing, incubating, and collaborating alongside ventures and industry-leading partners. To date, TechNexus has unlocked/activated hundreds of revenue-generating outcomes between some of the most matured corporations and early-stage companies to create new business models, revenue streams, and products.

Havoc Shield helps insurance brokers and agencies write more cyber policies through a proactive Risk Assessment Scorecard, aligned to insurance carrier app questions. An all-in-one information cybersecurity platform that includes everything a growing team needs to secure their remote workforce, train how to spot phishing emails, manage passwords and stop hackers accessing your data. Our collection of tools can be managed in one pane of glass, for one invoice and set up in under a week. Your cyber perimeter is growing. You have more employees working from home, in an environment that blurs the boundary between corporate and personal. As your exposure increases to consumer-grade routers, mixed-use home networks, and the growing probability that some personal tasks occur on company-issued hardware, you need a way to understand and address the associated risks. With Havoc Shield, you’ll answer a few questions, get started setting up the most critical modules like turning multifactor authentication (MFA) on across company devices and conducting email phishing training, while setting the stage for a sustained and ongoing cybersecurity program through monthly vulnerability scans and more. Havoc Shield guards your company from evolving threats, even if your company lacks the internal cybersecurity bandwidth or expertise to craft and implement policies on your own. This threat landscape is too urgent to bear the risk of waiting for a day when adequate internal cybersecurity resources become available to fully manage your own cybersecurity program. We’ll engage your employees positively in simple practices that dramatically improve your cybersecurity posture, allowing you to focus on your core strategies without the distraction of figuring out cybersecurity on your own. Your cyber perimeter will become a strength that you’ll be proud to use to your advantage in distributed workforce hiring, cybersecurity vetting from prospective customers, and compliance efforts.