CHICAGO, IL \u2013 August 5, 2025 \u2013 The Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization (iBIO) today released its inaugural Member Investor Portfolio Report, documenting over $1.24 billion in venture-style investments completed by nearly 100 life science companies in Illinois during calendar year 2024. The comprehensive report provides critical benchmarking data for Illinois\u2019 thriving life sciences ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report represents a milestone for our community,\u201d said John Conrad, President and CEO of iBIO. \u201cIt\u2019s essential that we track investment activity in our region, identify key trends, and most importantly, highlight and celebrate the incredible companies that are driving innovation and raising funds despite challenging market conditions. These achievements demonstrate the strength and resilience of Illinois\u2019 life sciences sector.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The report breaks down investments across multiple funding stages, with late-stage deals capturing 50% of total dollars raised, Series A rounds accounting for 35%, and early-stage investments representing 15%. Software solutions dominated funding by vertical with $544 million raised (44%), followed by pharma and biotech at $369 million (29%), and AgTech\/industrial bioscience at $186 million (15%).<\/p>\n
BIO International Convention Returns to Chicago in 2030<\/strong><\/p>\n
The report\u2019s release comes following the announcement that the BIO International Convention will return to Chicago in 2030. The convention, which last took place in Chicago in 2013, is expected to bring over 20,000 biotechnology professionals from around the world to the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BIO International Convention\u2019s return to Chicago is a reflection of the tremendous growth of our life sciences community and a testament to our region\u2019s promise as a major player in the biotech economy of the future,\u201d said Kenneth Johnson, Vice President for Medical Affairs at Immedica US and iBIO board chair \u201cThis has long been a goal for iBIO, and we\u2019ve been working closely with BIO and our board members to highlight how important our ecosystem is to the global biotechnology community.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The convention represents an opportunity to showcase Illinois\u2019 life sciences strengths, including its growing startup ecosystem, world-class research institutions, and robust infrastructure for biotechnology innovation.<\/p>\n
Report Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n
Key findings from the 2024 report include:<\/p>\n
\n
- $1.24 billion raised across 99 life science companies<\/li>\n
- 19 Series A deals led investment activity by deal count<\/li>\n
- 16 deal tombstones highlighted major funding rounds<\/li>\n
- 12 company milestones featured, including FDA approvals and licensing agreements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The report also showcases major Illinois life sciences developments, including ARCH Venture Partners\u2019 $3 billion new fund, Tempus AI\u2019s successful $410 million IPO, and the launch of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaising capital in today\u2019s market is challenging, but the depth of interest from investors \u2014 when combined with Chicago\u2019s and the State of Illinois\u2019s strong scientific talent, research infrastructure, and overall access to capital \u2014 made our latest funding round a success,\u201d said John Craighead, Ph.D., chief executive officer at Syntax Bio. \u201cThis region offers exactly what innovative biotech companies like Syntax need to advance transformative technologies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The full 2024 Member Investor Portfolio Report is available at https:\/\/ibio.org\/investment-report\/<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
About iBIO<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization (iBIO) is a life sciences industry association that represents the 94,000 life sciences employees in Illinois. iBIO promotes the industry’s value to the public and policymakers; connects innovators to investment and talent; stimulates collaboration and fosters the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs to transform patient lives through groundbreaking research and works to grow the Illinois economy. To learn more about iBIO and its programs, visit http:\/\/www.ibio.org.\\\\<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Report highlights nearly 100 life science companies and investment trends as Chicago prepares to welcome BIO International Convention 2030 CHICAGO, IL \u2013 August 5, 2025 \u2013 The Illinois Biotechnology Innovation Organization (iBIO) today released its inaugural Member Investor Portfolio Report, documenting over $1.24 billion in venture-style investments completed by nearly 100 life science companies in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":10757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[143],"tags":[513,262,121,301,479,122,485],"class_list":["post-10756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ibio-news","tag-bio-convention","tag-chicago","tag-illinois","tag-investment","tag-john-conrad","tag-life-sciences","tag-venture-capital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10758,"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10756\/revisions\/10758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}