What is TechNexus Venture Collaborative?

TechNexus Venture Collaborative is a Chicago-based firm that invests in startups, co-creates new ventures, and builds innovation ecosystems between Fortune 1000 corporations and early-stage companies. Founded in 2007, it is the longest-operating venture collaborative in the United States.

Who founded TechNexus?

TechNexus was founded by Terry Howerton in 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. Terry serves as the Founder and CEO of TechNexus Venture Collaborative.

Where is TechNexus located?

TechNexus is headquartered at 20 N. Wacker Drive, 12th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606. The firm operates globally, partnering with corporations and startups worldwide.

What is the TechNexus ecosystem?

The TechNexus ecosystem includes SecondWave (venture turnarounds), ForgeX (deep technology commercialization), Pulse Angel Network (accredited investor platform), TechNexus Connect (thought leadership and insights), and TeamWorking (innovation-focused coworking). Together these entities serve different stakeholders in the venture building and corporate innovation lifecycle.

About TechNexus

Connecting corporations and entrepreneurs to drive growth.

TechNexus pioneered the venture collaborative model in 2007 — the first-of-its-kind structure pairing corporate capital with startup execution at scale, and the longest-operating venture collaborative in the United States. We help leading corporations and ambitious entrepreneurs develop mutually beneficial relationships that accelerate growth opportunities by investing capital, incubating ventures, and collaborating across our ecosystem to create new business models, revenue streams, and products.

Entrepreneurs

We attract bold problem-solvers who challenge conventional thinking and explore possibilities through calculated risk-taking.

Perspective

Bringing together people with different experiences, backgrounds, and ideas is crucial to driving innovation.

Impactful Execution

We are force multipliers supporting creators committed to action-based solutions addressing genuine market needs.

Community

We build Chicago's technology ecosystem while fostering global partnerships — because future growth depends on interconnected business ecosystems.

Our Team

Dynamic, driven individuals

Terry Howerton

Founder & CEO

Fred Hoch

Founder & General Partner

Andy Annacone

Managing Director

Andrew Wolohan

Vice President, Venture

Andrew Loulousis

Vice President, Strategy + Venturing

Indira Gallo

Vice President, Finances

Paula Quinn

Head of People

Kevin Warns

Sr. Manager, Legal and Compliance

Madelyn Rutter

Sr. Director, Collaboration

Jim Dallke

Director, Communications

Ellie Davis

Director, Venture Operations

Manager, Community & Events

Joey Alfieri

Sr. Associate, Venturing

Kayla Dusing

Program Manager, Venture

Ariana Castro

Executive Administrator, Operations

Analyst, Venture Operations

Venture Partner, Cofounder ForgeX

Ian Greenblatt

Venture Partner

Our Track Record

Built to last. Built to deliver.

Corporate innovation is littered with firms that promised transformation and disappeared. Venture studios that shuttered. Advisory shops that moved on to the next trend. We've seen them come and go.

We have been mentoring, building and funding ventures since 2007. Since 2017, we have been putting our own capital and founder ethos to work alongside our partners. 150+ portfolio companies. $4B+ in follow-on capital raised. A track record, not a pitch.

150+

Portfolio companies

$4B+

Follow-on capital raised by portfolio companies

Since 2007

The longest-operating venture collaborative in the U.S.

Dozens

Fortune 500 and major corporate partners

What We Believe

Built for builders.

We have been mentoring, building and funding ventures since 2007, operating at the intersection of corporate innovation and startup ambition longer than any other venture collaborative in the country. Our perspective is sourced directly from the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Entrepreneurship

We champion risk-takers who challenge convention and solve complex problems creatively. We put our own capital and founder ethos to work alongside our partners, co-creating ventures together.

Diverse Perspectives

Different experiences, backgrounds, and ideas are crucial to driving real innovation. The best outcomes happen when the scale of enterprise meets the urgency of a founding team.

Action-Oriented Impact

We back creators who execute on real market needs and entrepreneurial intuition — with insight sourced from the ecosystem, not a textbook.

Community

The collective experience is greater than the sum of the parts. We build together — assembling founding teams and forging partnerships that create compounding value.

Principles We Live By

Short rules, written in our own voice.

Not slogans — the actual operating principles our team uses when we pick partners, back founders, and structure engagements.

"Ideas without execution are just hallucinations."

Strategy decks don't ship product. We work with teams actually building, shipping, and iterating in-market.

"Dive into the deep end."

You learn more from one real pilot than from a year of discovery workshops. We move partners into real market engagements fast.

"Signal is in the ecosystem, not the deck."

Our edge comes from standing in the middle of 600+ startups, Fortune 1000 operators, and LPs — not from desk research.

"Build with founders, not around them."

Corporate partnerships fail when they treat the startup as a vendor. We structure engagements so founders keep velocity.

"If we won't co-invest, we don't deserve the fee."

Our capital sits alongside yours on every deal. Skin in the game isn't rhetoric — it's how we earn the seat.

"Longevity is trust earned."

Since 2007, across cycles. We measure partnerships in years and decades, not in one-off engagements.

Organizations We Support

Strengthening the ecosystem.

We are committed to transforming technology's representation by delivering more capital, resources, and access to marginalized groups. These are some of the organizations we're proud to support.