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Radar · Crowdfunding in Chicago

Best Crowdfunding Companies in Chicago, United States

The 35 best Crowdfunding companies in Chicago, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Benevolent.

35companies tracked
$284.3Mdisclosed funding
1unicorns
6have raised

Ranked: Best Crowdfunding companies in Chicago

#CompanyDisclosed fundingStageFoundedFounderEmployeesTech stackRecent signals
1FundingHope
Equity crowdfunding platform connects investors with entrepreneurs
$745KSeed2021John Johanson
Co-Founder
2——
2CURE Token
Crypto-based donation crowdfunding platforms for pediatric cancer
—Unfunded2021Jacob Beckley
Founder and CEO
———
3Capital Investors
Real estate investment platform
—Deadpooled2019Stephen Lee
Co-Founder
———
4KOHA
Fundraising platform for schools and nonprofits
—Deadpooled2019Marina Carlson
Co-Founder
———
5Manor Straits
Crowdfunding platform for real estate investments
—Unfunded2018Drew Kenning
Founder & CEO
9——
6percent pledge
B2B SaaS. Our easy-to-use platform & social impact experts offer companies a single source for donations…
—Private2017—21——
7BlueFund Rewards
Rewards-based crowdfunding platform
—Unfunded2016Tracy Powell
Founder
———
8Mr. Crowd
Equity crowdfunding platform connecting entrepreneurs with investors for capital raising
—Unfunded2016Allen Au
Co-Founder
———

Top 8 Crowdfunding companies in Chicago

#1
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2021 · 2 employees
$745Kraised
▾

Equity crowdfunding platform connects investors with entrepreneurs. It focused on connecting impact investors to entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized enterprises for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets in distressed, at-risk, and rural communities. It reviews the company information and approves the campaign run by entrepreneurs before launching on the platform.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 507 LinkedIn followers — 3.2% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
  • Oct 2025Conventional Debt$90K
  • Jul 2025Seed$30K
  • Jul 2025Conventional Debt—
  • Jun 2025Seed$10K
Founders & team
John JohansonCo-Founder
#2
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2011 · 248 employees
$281.8Mraised
▾

Connecting donors to individual needs, fostering personal giving and community impact. It is a platform designed to facilitate direct giving to individuals facing specific hardships. The organization enables donors to browse needs, make contributions, and become part of someone's story. It focuses on creating a personal connection between donors and recipients, fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility. The platform offers various ways to give, including giving cards, monthly donations, and personal giving pages, encouraging diverse forms of support. It aims to transform lives through generosity and partnership, inviting individuals and organizations to join their mission of creating a brighter future. The organization also provides resources like a support center, newsletter, and various accessibility tools to enhance user experience and engagement.

Founders & team
Jackie HunterMichael BrennanCo-FounderIvan GriffinCo-Founder & COO
Investors
Temasek, Woodford Investment Management
Tech stack
BootstrapCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementConcrete CmsCookiebotFont Awesome
#3
Acquired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2013 · 20 employees
$1.6Mraised
▾

Public Good is online fundraising that helps public benefit organizations connect new donors and raise more money. Donors have an options to make make recurring donations to their chosen charity every month. It deducts 9.9% + $0.30 from the funds raised to cover the credit card and associated fees.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 2k LinkedIn followers — 15.3% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
  • Jan 2015Seed$1.6M
  • Apr 2014Conventional Debt$325K
Investors
FireStarter Fund, HPA, Washing Pond Ventures, Avocation Investments
Tech stack
WordpressMysqlPhpYoutubeDiviNinja Forms
#4
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2014 · 4 employees
$99Kraised
▾

Equityroots is a equity and debt crowdfunding platform for investing in hotels. All the hotel property listings on the platform are pre-vetted by the company. Minimum investment on the platform is $15,000 per unit investment.

Funding rounds
  • Jan 2015Seed$99K
Founders & team
Bhavik DaniFounder
#5
Deadpooled · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2013
$50Kraised
▾

Firelily is a fundraising platform dedicated to assisting those who have been impacted by disaster to raise the funds they need to recover. An individual or community signs up as a fundraiser on Firelily by providing their story and photos of the damage inflicted by the disaster. The Fundraiser is then verified to ensure the information provided is accurate. Once proper verification is in place, the Fundraiser is notified their profile is active and they can begin fundraising on Firelily. It charges a 7% fee from every donation plus processing costs.

Funding rounds
  • Jun 2015Seed$50K
Founders & team
Lawrence Paul LewisFounderTamara HabibCo-Founder
Investors
Civic Accelerator
#6
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2014
$17Kraised
▾

Backersphere is an equity crowdfunding platform that connects socially-responsible startups with investors. As of July 2016, the company is on hiatus.

Funding rounds
  • Nov 2014Seed$17K
Founders & team
Kristopher CrawCo-Founder
#7
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1939 · 401 employees
—raised
▾

Cloud-based platform for fundraising. It provides a platform to raise funds for charitable causes. It allows users to donate gifts and chocolates for charity.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 11k LinkedIn followers — 69.5% of this cohort's audience · 14 engagements/post (3.6× cohort median)
Hiring: 9 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum -1 · hiring: Customer Solutions Representative, Sales Data Analyst
Tech stack
Backbone.JsBootstrapCart FunctionalityClerkCloudflareCloudflare Bot Management
#8
Acquired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2014 · 11 employees
—raised
▾

Real estate crowdfunding platform connecting investors with reputable developers. The company provides a premier marketplace for accredited investors to participate in high-quality real estate deals. It offers a technology platform where investors can review investment offerings, sign legal documents online, and transfer funds. The company focuses on providing access to real estate investment opportunities that were historically difficult to access, enabling portfolio diversification. It connects investors with sponsors who have a proven track record of success. The platform streamlines private real estate investing, offering a means to gain diversification with reputable developers. It offers a marketplace where investors can participate in real estate deals. The company uses technology to make private real estate investing simple.

Funding rounds
  • Jan 2015Seed—
Investors
hcassets, Elmspring Accelerator, Tribal Ventures
Tech stack
UbuntuApache Http Server

Funding & investor landscape

$284.3Mtotal disclosed funding
6companies funded
9disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Avocation Investments1 rounds
Civic Accelerator1 rounds
Elmspring Accelerator1 rounds
FireStarter Fund1 rounds
HPA1 rounds
Latinx Incubator1 rounds
Quorumm Digital Venture Partners1 rounds
Temasek1 rounds
Tribal Ventures1 rounds
Washing Pond Ventures1 rounds

Notable founders

John Johanson
Co-Founder · FundingHope
Jackie Hunter
· Benevolent
Michael Brennan
Co-Founder · Benevolent
Bhavik Dani
Founder · EquityRoots
Lawrence Paul Lewis
Founder · Firelily
Tamara Habib
Co-Founder · Firelily
Kristopher Craw
Co-Founder · Backersphere
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 11,218,674 docs

Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage

Share of Crowdfunding coverage by sub-theme.

Regulatory-risk over time rising

Funding & growth over time

funding rising · growth rising

Common questions

How many Crowdfunding companies are there in Chicago, United States?
Radar tracks 35 indexable Crowdfunding companies headquartered in Chicago, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Crowdfunding companies in Chicago, United States?
The Crowdfunding companies in Chicago, United States on this list have raised a combined $284.3M in disclosed equity funding across 6 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Crowdfunding company in Chicago, United States?
Benevolent is the highest-funded Crowdfunding company in Chicago, United States, with $281.8M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Crowdfunding companies in Chicago, United States are funded?
6 of the 35 Crowdfunding companies in Chicago, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Crowdfunding unicorns are there in Chicago, United States?
1 Crowdfunding company in Chicago, United States on this list is valued at $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Chicago, United States Crowdfunding companies?
The most active investors in Chicago, United States Crowdfunding companies on this list include Avocation Investments, Civic Accelerator, Elmspring Accelerator, FireStarter Fund, HPA.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories

Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.

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