Cleveland Avenue Fund

Overview

Cleveland Avenue, founded 2015 by Don and Liz Thompson (Don is the former McDonald's CEO), is a Chicago-based venture capital firm named after the street where Thompson grew up in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood. Invests in lifestyle consumer brands and disruptive technology, concentrated in food & beverage, AgTech, consumer goods, and health/wellness -- paired with hands-on operating support from a ~50-person team drawing on Thompson's restaurant-industry background. Its $70M CAST US fund is structurally mandated toward 75% Black/Hispanic-owned companies, 75% Chicago South/West Side companies, and 50% women-founded companies; a second fund targeting up to $500M was in the works.

Key Facts

Type

Foundation