Portfolio Company of the Year Award - 2021

IVCA Annual Awards

Begun in 2010, the Portfolio Company of the Year Award recognizes a venture capital-backed and a private equity-backed company based on the following criteria:

• Company is located in Illinois
• Is/Was VC or PE backed, had a realized liquidity event in 2020 or 2021 and the exit was successful for investors 
• Examples of a great outcome might include:
• Great returns to investors
• Speed to achieve key milestones
• Impressive revenue growth
• Impressive net growth
• Impressive employment growth
• Introduced a key and impactful technology
• Turnaround story

How to Nominate an Illinois company for Portfolio Company of the Year Award:

Please complete and return a nomination form to Kathy Pyne at [email protected] from the list below:

• Stanley C. Golder Award nomination form
• Richard J. Daley Award nomination form
• Fellows Award nomination form
• VC Portfolio Company of the Year nomination form - companies nominated must have had an exit between January 1, 2020 and today!
• PE Portfolio Company of the Year nomination form - companies nominated must have had an exit between January 1, 2020 and today!

Deadline to submit your nomination is October 14th!

Please note that information collected will be kept confidential and will only be shared with the voting panel for voting purposes.  All descriptions for publication can be reviewed in advance by the nominated company and its nominator.

A committee of 55 IVCA board members and previous awardees will evaluate all submissions and select the 2020 Portfolio Companies of the Year

2020:  Sprout Social, (Venture-backed)
2019:  Livongo, (Venture-backed)
2019:  Evans Food Group (Private equity-Backed)
2018:  Aptinyx (Venture-backed)
2018:  The Stepping Stones Group (Private equity-backed)
2017:  Naurex, Inc. (Venture-backed)
2017:  Kronos Foods (Private equity-backed)
2016:  Cleversafe (Venture-backed)
2016:  Sage Products (Private equity-backed)
2015:  Paylocity (Venture-backed)
2015:  Sterigenics International (Private equity-backed)
2014:  GrubHub (Venture-backed)
2014:  Fieldglass (Private equity-backed) 
2013:  Gogo (Venture-backed)
2013:  Actient Pharmaceuticals (Private equity-backed)
2012:  SurePayroll (Venture-backed)

2012:  Flexera Software (Private equity-backed)

2011:  Accretive Health (Venture-backed)

2011:  Great Kitchens (Private equity-backed)

2010:  Initiate Systems, Inc. (Venture-backed)

2010:  Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Private equity-backed)