Business
Don Thompson and his Venture Capital firm – Cleveland Avenue – aiming for $500 million fund
Cleveland Avenue is looking to raise up to $500 million in its second fund.
Former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson may soon have half a billion dollars to invest in food businesses of the future.
Thompson’s venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue is looking to raise up to US$500 million in its second fund, according to an SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) filing last week. The fund has yet to receive any commitments from limited partners, and it is unclear when the fund will close or how much it will ultimately raise. But it’s clear Cleveland Avenue is preparing to write some significant checks to food entrepreneurs in the coming years.
Cleveland Avenue launched in 2017, 2 years after Thompson left his role as chief executive of McDonald’s. Cleveland Avenue, named after the street where Thompson grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green community, has backed a range of food and beverage upstarts including Chicago-based Farmer’s Fridge, Food Boss and Bartesian.
The young venture capital firm has already reaped the rewards of a successful exit in Beyond Meat, the plant-based protein company that went public in 2019. Cleveland Avenue owned 5.4 percent of Beyond Meat at the time of its initial public offering, valuing the firm’s stake at around US$65 million. Beyond Meat’s shares have gained over 140 percent so far this year.
Cleveland Avenue would be the latest Chicago venture capital firm to embark on a new US$100 million-plus fund. In August, Chicago’s S2G Ventures, a food and agriculture-focused venture capital firm, announced plans to invest US$100 million in seafood startups and other ocean ventures.
Hyde Park Venture Partners announced in 2019 that it closed its third venture capital fund at US$100 million. Valor Equity, a fund led by Antonio Gracias that’s backed Tesla and SpaceX, raised more than US$1 billion in 2018 for its fourth fund. And 7wire Ventures revealed in an SEC filing this month that it has raised US$48 million toward a US$150 million target for its second fund.
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