Illinois Ventures, the venture capital arm of the University of Illinois System, has joined forces with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Gies College of Business to establish a student venture fund, Orange & Blue Ventures.
Student venture funds are commonplace at institutions throughout the United States and internationally, set up to give students, typically in business schools, hands-on investment experience.
It is, however, incredibly rare for a university venture fund to be behind a student venture fund, whose primary purpose is education.
Orange & Blue Ventures’ development was spearheaded by Rob Metzger, clinical professor of finance and Stephen V. and Christy C. King professor in business, in collaboration with leaders across campus, the Illinois Research Park, and alumni.
The fund builds on programming already delivered through the Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship, which also includes the iVenture Accelerator.
Illinois Ventures has been operating since 2000, and before the launch of Orange & Blue Ventures, managed four funds. Its most recent spinout investment vehicle, the Illinois Deep Technology Strategic Venture Fund, was established in October 2024.
Illinois Ventures will support students as they learn to navigate the world of venture capital through Orange & Blue Ventures. It will also be on hand to assist with the sourcing of subject matter experts for market research, primarily through its angel network that counts more than 100 individual investors.
“Illinois Ventures is one of the longest-running venture capital firms associated with a university, ever. Over the last 25 years, we’ve gone from being a pre-seed, double bottom line fund, adding limited partner venture funds, then adding an angel network.
“Adding support to a student-led venture fund really allows the University of Illinois to be at the front and centre of what’s happening in the country.”
Nancy Sullivan, CEO of Illinois Ventures
The fund’s target size has not been disclosed, though student venture funds are typically relatively small, seven-figure funds. An initial $500,000 has been donated by alumni Doug and Debbie Ackerman.
