Illinois Innovation Accelerator (i²A) Fund Closes on $10 million and Announces Initial Investments in Three Illinois Companies

Calamos Family Partners, Raymond Spencer, and the Illinois Treasurer’s Technology Development Fund, among investors in innovative seed-stage fund

CHICAGO – February 25, 2008 – The Illinois Innovation Accelerator (i²A) Fund today announced it has closed on $10 million in capital commitments to make investments in innovative startup companies thanks to significant contributions from notable business leaders and the Illinois State Treasurer’s Technology Development Fund. The i2A Fund addresses the capital gap in seed-stage investing in the state that exists because investors have moved “up-market.”

Since the fund launched in February 2007, a number of notable investors have made contributions, bringing the amount of committed capital to $10 million. The second fund closing on January 31, brought new investors including money manager John P. Calamos Sr., technology executive Raymond Spencer, local entrepreneur Mike Keiser, the Keller Group, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the Illinois Treasurer’s Technology Development Fund.

“We have strong leaders from our state’s business and investment community on board who are committed to growing new companies in Illinois, and the i2A will help entrepreneurs in their quest to find the capital needed to take their business to the next level”, said i2A Managing Director David Weinstein. “Launching this fund is a step in the right direction to close the venture capital gap in Illinois, and it’s exciting because we’re bringing together Illinois investors who believe in the future of Illinois companies.”

The primary goal of the i²A is to provide the first external capital raised by companies headquartered in Illinois, allowing them to expand, as well as provide fund members the opportunity to capitalize on these high-growth opportunities. The Fund invests in technology, consumer product and retail enterprises, new media and cleantech companies.

“Given the entrepreneurial roots of Calamos, we take great pride in our involvement in i²A, which brings a competitive process to funding the most innovative enterprises, promising to bring high growth opportunities to Illinois,” said John P. Calamos, Sr., Founder, Chairman, CEO and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Calamos Asset Management.

“There is an unfortunate venture capital gap that exists throughout the Midwest, and the i²A will be a valuable tool to help innovative startup companies to grow and create jobs throughout the state,” said Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. “This fund will invest in companies that are investing in Illinois and help create the jobs of our state’s future.”

Each year, the i²A Investment and Advisory Committees expect to evaluate between 150-200 investment opportunities and invest in four to six companies. The Fund is administered at the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, a non-profit affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, which has a great deal of experience in financial transactions, deal syndication (with its CEC Venture Forum) and post-deal development. The organization has assisted entrepreneurs in raising more than $72 million in debt and equity in the past five years with a focus on assisting clients in raising equity capital in amounts ranging from $100,000 to $3 million.

The i²A’s first investments are in three startup companies:

• One Llama – A leader in audio analysis, search and discovery systems, One Llama develops acoustic analysis, cultural analysis and collaborative filtering tools for music and video navigation, discovery and search.
• Viewpoints Network - Launched in 2007, Viewpoints Network allows users to rate, review and recommend products, services, and other experiences based on their first-hand use. Their mission is to become the leading ratings and reviews service with personalized and meaningful reviews.
• ifbyphone – Developers of Voice 2.0 services that link web applications and business processes to PSTN or VoIP telephone networks, ifbyphone services are being positioned for sale through a network of channel partners to reduce the cost of sales and support often associated with the SMB marketplace. Their proprietary code generation technology aims to allow channels with only basic web development skills to create sophisticated voice-based applications for their SMB customers.

The first close of the i²A in February 2007 included individual investors Michael Ferro, Jr., Bob Geras, James Gray, Jules Knapp, Larry Levy, J.B. Pritzker and Ralph Wanger. Contributing institutions included: Banner Capital, Duchossois Technology Partners, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Illinois Institute of Technology, Merrick Ventures, Mesirow Financial, National City Equity Partners and Wexford Science and Technology.

For more information, visit www.i2Afund.com.

Media Contact:
Justin DeJong
Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center
312-494-6725
jdejong@chicagolandchamber.org