LongJump

⚽️ Our TechChicago Week KICKoff is back! Join LongJump, Chicago:Blend, LaFamilia Foundation, and VamosVentures on Monday, July 21 at 5:30pm at Skyline Pitch. Whether you’re a startup founder trying to score a goal on your favorite VC or just looking to catch up with Chicago’s tech community on a rooftop, let's get your TechChicago Week kicked off right. We’ll have rooftop hangs with operators, funders, and founders, a casual soccer tourney, and an unbeatable view of the city. Special thanks to CDW and JP Morgan Chase & Co's Innovation Economy team for helping make this possible. Space is limited! RSVP now: https://lu.ma/vymabhs4

We’re excited to share three of our latest investments at LongJump! ⚡ GridLink – Founded by Joshua Silets, Gabriel Bryk, and Ryan McPhail, GridLink helps EV fleets charge smarter, cut costs, and earn revenue from the grid. 🛡 Qixent – Led by Randel Bennett and Glenn Yancy, Qixent offers full-stack infrastructure for embedded insurance. Think licensing, compliance, and policy admin - all in one platform, live in under a week. 🐶 Houndsy – Built by Pavan Bapu and Luke Wilson, Houndsy reimagines pet utility products to be more convenient, durable, and beautiful. Bootstrapped to $5M+ revenue, profitable from day one, and a massive community of pet parents behind them. We’re excited to support these founders as they scale. Check out the blog to read why we invested: https://lnkd.in/gdwqAkJd

Join LongJump's Tina Hrabak and portfolio founder Jordan Karim from Flora & Noor for a session with Mogul Millennial, Inc. on raising VC, particularly as a CPG founder. We'll dive into how Jordan stood out from the dozens of CPG companies we review each cycle, how other consumer brands can differentiate themselves to VCs, and whether VC is even the right fit in the first place. RSVP ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eRe9eHQp

Congrats to Unvale on today's feature in Forbes. With over 2 million pieces of content on Unvale, creators on the platform have generated more than 200 times the number of characters than Disney has released in the last century and racked up over 300,000 followers. Read more ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/gxQNHSmg

🏙️ Last Thursday, LongJump held our first quarterly community gathering of 2025, bringing together investors, founders, operators, and partners from the city's startup ecosystem. We started the morning with an energizing breakfast featuring Troy Henikoff and Brian Luerssen, who announced plans to bring back the Techstars Chicago Accelerator. We also shared exciting updates on LongJump’s plans for 2025 and beyond, with insights from our Managing Partner, Rebecca Sholiton Kahnweiler. In the afternoon, we dove into LongJump founder programming, featuring impactful sessions led by Garry Cooper, Ale Breuer, Ablorde Ashigbi, and Casey L.. Many thanks to the Snapsheet Inc team for hosting! ✌🏻See you in Q2 for our next gathering! ➡️ Want to get involved with LongJump? We invest $100K on a rolling basis in pre-seed founders building in emerging startup ecosystems across the U.S. Learn more and apply: longjump.vc/apply 💡 Have an idea for a future community gathering? Let’s chat: hello@longjump.vc

Congrats to Tamika Vantifflin and AEGIS APP for their feature on Meet the Drapers! Take 15 seconds to vote for her to win part of the nearly $2M prize pool and empower individuals to take control of their personal safety through AEGIS. ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gnqxm6RG

We are incredibly proud to share our latest press release! Grapefruit Health is deployed at a health system in the Northeast and we are reducing readmissions by 13% while reducing costs by 33%. Check out the link below to see how we did it - we appreciate you reposting and/or sharing! #postdischargefollowup #valuebasedcare #hospitalist https://lnkd.in/geGfNKGa

⏰ Last day! LongJump's $100k pre-seed investment application closes at midnight. https://longjump.vc/apply Want an inside look into our process? Some resources from our team to help you put your best foot forward in the comments ⬇️

🤔 Have questions about how pre-seed VCs evaluate companies, building in the early stages, or LongJump's process? We have answers! Join LongJump's team for a virtual AMA this Thursday at 12pm CT --> https://lu.ma/rfzahhbz

Thinking about quitting your job to go all-in on your startup but don’t know where to start? Jordan Karim’s story might inspire you. In 2018, Jordan was a top 1% sales consultant at Allergan, thriving in a competitive and impactful role. But there was a challenge: as a halal-observing Muslim, she couldn’t use many of the products she was selling. After diving into research, Jordan identified a massive market gap for clean, effective skincare tailored to halal consumers, people with sensitive skin, and those with melanin-rich complexions. That insight became the foundation of Flora & Noor. Fast forward to today: Flora & Noor has been featured in Vogue and Allure, earned support from industry giants like Glossier, Inc. and Glow Recipe, and achieved nationwide distribution Ulta Beauty. LongJump had the chance to talk with Jordan about her journey from corporate success to entrepreneurial impact—and her advice for others ready to take the leap. https://lnkd.in/e3ZaW7VM