Oct 23, 2026 12:00am - Nov 13 | 6:00pm
BoothHacks is back for its second edition! Co-presented by the Booth Technology Group (BTG) and the Kilts Center, BoothHacks 2026 runs November 11–13 in Chicago and brings together Booth students to build, pitch, and compete over three days. ⚠️ Every participant must complete this registration. Only registered individuals will be able to take part in BoothHacks. This applies to everyone, whether you are a Case Track finalist (Kilts Product Competition) or joining the Open Track. What your $20 registration includes: - Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks throughout the event - Happy hour - An official BoothHacks 2026 t-shirt - Eligibility to participate and compete for prizes Team registration is separate. Registering here signs you up as an individual. A separate team registration link will be shared at the Kickoff on November 11, where you’ll formally register your team. Please make sure every member of your team has completed this individual registration before then.
(Some Chicago Booth School of Business users only)
Nov 11, 2026 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Capital IQ was acquired by S&P for $225 million. Now its founder is coming to Booth to tell us what really happened behind the scenes. Join Chicago Booth's Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club for an evening with Neal Goldman, founder and former CEO of Capital IQ. Neal started Capital IQ at 27, raised $40 million, and ultimately sold the company to Standard & Poor's for $225 million. He went on to found Relationship Science, raise over $150 million across his ventures, and lead organizations employing more than 1,500 people. Today, he coaches venture-backed CEOs and is the author of The Venture-Backed CEO's Guide to Mastery, Influence & Endurance (2026). What we'll explore: The difficult decisions and pivots behind building Capital IQ What didn't work, and the lessons learned Raising capital, managing investors, and building effective teams How founders must evolve to become successful CEOs.
Nov 11, 2026 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Welcome to our invite-only small group VC networking series for Chicago Booth Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital members. We're excited to announce that Jason Heltzer ('02), Managing Partner at Origin Ventures, will be the guest for this session. You may know him as Professor Heltzer who runs the renowned VC Lab course, or as the former GP at OCA Ventures. In addition to being a seasoned investor and board member, he is also a movie buff and video game lover. We're so excited for you to meet him. APPLY VIA THE INTEREST FORM TO BE CONSIDERED. Only EVC members selected for this event will have the opportunity to register. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9Bb9PC8gZ3Hw_AfyB7TlAYpNlFHPElNBqrdRPx7GMs3csiw/ Please note that there is a one-strike policy for Venture Bites. You will be ineligible for future events if you do not show up, or provide 24-hour cancellation notice, for your session.
(Group members)
Nov 12, 2026 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Welcome to our invite-only small group VC networking series for EVC members. Ever wonder how major hospital networks invest in startups? During this session, you get to ask your questions to the one and only Hannah Levine, UCM Ventures's Executive Director and Chief of Staff to the CFO of UChicago Medicine. We're so excited for you to meet her. APPLY VIA THE INTEREST FORM TO BE CONSIDERED. Only EVC members selected for this event will have the opportunity to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9Bb9PC8gZ3Hw_AfyB7TlAYpNlFHPElNBqrdRPx7GMs3csiw Please note that there is a one-strike policy for Venture Bites. You will be ineligible for future events if you do not show up, or provide 48-hour cancellation notice, for your session.
(Group members)
Nov 16, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Umama Kibria is the co-founder of Play and has spent her entire career building brands. She previously founded SweatPack and the personal fitness brand smallandstrong.co, and is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and TEDx speaker. She built her brand on community, working out at over 400 gyms across the world, connecting with over 100k people on social media, and hosting fitness events nationwide. As an influencer, she has worked with Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Bumble, and more. Atlanta magazine named her Fitness Influencer of the Year in 2018. Umama is an integral member of the Chicago startup ecosystem and frequently hosts highly rated events. Umama will take us through her complete AI playbook - how to set up your brand identity, how to automate your content pipeline, how to identify your community archetype, and what AI tools you can use. You will leave the session feeling confident about setting up your entire marketing function without needing to hire a professional marketer.
Nov 17, 2026 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Welcome to our invite-only small group VC networking series for EVC members. We're excited to announce that our guest for this session will be Ira Weiss ('99), General Partner and founding member of Hyde Park Venture Partners (HPVP). When he's not investing in the next unicorns, Professor Weiss teaches two highly rated courses at Chicago Booth: Accounting for Entrepreneurship & Taxes and Business Strategy. Prior to HPVP, he was the Managing Director at Hyde Park Angels and a partner at RK Ventures. We're so excited for you to meet him. APPLY VIA THE INTEREST FORM TO BE CONSIDERED. Only EVC members selected for this event will have the opportunity to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9Bb9PC8gZ3Hw_AfyB7TlAYpNlFHPElNBqrdRPx7GMs3csiw Please note that there is a one-strike policy for Venture Bites. You will be ineligible for future events if you do not show up, or provide 24-hour cancellation notice, for your session.
(Group members)
Nov 18, 2026 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Welcome to our invite-only small group VC networking series for our EVC members. The vibrant Lay Chau is a Client Relationship Executive at Cete Ventures where she and her team develop startups, blending the best elements of accelerators and pairing capital with consulting and strategic advisory services. We're so excited for you to meet her. APPLY VIA THE INTEREST FORM TO BE CONSIDERED. Only EVC members selected for this event will have the opportunity to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9Bb9PC8gZ3Hw_AfyB7TlAYpNlFHPElNBqrdRPx7GMs3csiw Please note that there is a one-strike policy for Venture Bites. You will be ineligible for future events if you do not show up, or provide 24-hour cancellation notice, for your session.
(Group members)
Dec 1, 2026 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Join the EVC community in our Fall EVC Social. You will have a chance to meet the rest of the EVC community, connect, and play games through a competitive environment. This event is FREE for members, so please register today!
(Group members)
Dec 2, 2026 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Join EVC for an evening fireside chat on building and backing early-stage fintech, with an investor and a founder from the same portfolio. Jackson Bubala, Partner at Motivate Ventures. Motivate is a Chicago-based firm that invests at pre-seed and seed. It has more than $200M in assets under management and recently launched Fund III, which focuses on early-stage fintech. Rhett Dinsdale, Co-Founder of FutureSports. FutureSports is a Chicago-based index provider that turns sports statistics into tradable financial instruments through its FutureSports Performance Indexes. The company came out of stealth in July 2026. It has announced partnerships with the NHL and MLB and is backed by investors including CME Ventures and Robinhood. We’ll cover: How Motivate evaluates fintech at the earliest stages How FutureSports built a new asset class at the intersection of sports and financial markets What the founder and investor relationship looks like after the check Open Q&A
(Chicago Booth School of Business users only)
Dec 3, 2026 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Welcome to our invite-only small group VC networking series for our EVC members. We're excited to announce that Jeremie Bacon, Co-Founder and General Partner at SENU Venture Partners, will be the guest for this session. This name might sound familiar to those who have taken New Venture Strategy; Professor Bacon teaches the Monday evening section this quarter! We're so excited for the SENU Venture Partners team as they just launched their inaugural $100MM Fund I. APPLY VIA THE INTEREST FORM TO BE CONSIDERED. Only EVC members selected for this event will have the opportunity to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9Bb9PC8gZ3Hw_AfyB7TlAYpNlFHPElNBqrdRPx7GMs3csiw Please note that there is a one-strike policy for Venture Bites. You will be ineligible for future events if you do not show up, or provide 24-hour cancellation notice, for your session.
(Group members)
Events
All Chicago Booth students are encouraged to sync their calendars with the EVC group so you won't miss any events. Events may be scheduled on short notice and an integrated calendar is the best way to stay involved. The EVC Events Calendar is compatible with Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook, and Tungle.
SeedCon
SeedCon, co-hosted with the The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is a conference designed to bring together successful entrepreneurs and seasoned venture capitalists to share ideas and advice, foster creativity, and ignite the entrepreneurial spirit within.
SeedCon took place on Friday, January 24, 2020 at 1871 in Chicago. Scott Case, founder of Priceline, was the keynote speaker.
Although the format of SeedCon may change from year to year, in the past, we have hosted discussion panels, keynotes, and fireside chats on topics such as lean startup methodology, the merits of incubator and accelerator programs, how to find technical talent, and much more.
Venture Capital Investment Competition
The Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) is a student-run event during the winter quarter, coordinated by the EVC Group and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
The VCIC is intended to give students the experience of thinking and acting as venture capitalists and to identify top students to represent Chicago Booth at the regional and national intercollegiate MBA competitions. Serving as VCs during the competition, students interact with real, local startups and have the opportunity to be evaluated by experienced Partners, Managing Directors, and Investors from Midwest facing VC firms.
Chicago Booth VCIC teams have won the regional competition 6 times, including most recently in 2020, crediting Chicago Booth's internal competition with being an essential tool for their success.
Treks
Treks, an exclusive benefit of being an EVC member, offer an extraordinary opportunity for bonding with fellow classmates and making invaluable connections in the professional space.
The EVC group typically sponsors several unique treks, though the exact number of treks may change from year to year depending on demand and opportunity:
• VC Treks: SF, LA, NYC
• Startup Treks: SF, LA, NYC
As the number of Chicago Booth students interesting in developing their own start-ups or entering Venture Capital have grown, demand for these treks has far outpaced capacity. Students are now asked to complete a questionnaire application for all treks and are limited to one trek per calendar year. Priority is also awarded to those planning to make entrepreneurship or venture capital their summer internship or career upon graduation.
In the past three years, EVC Treks have visited the top VC Firms and emerging startups including
Lunch and Learns + Bootcamp Series
Life can get pretty busy at Chicago Booth and EVC wants to ensure that you can get your events without having to compromise class time. Hosted throughout the term, EVC will bring accomplished entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from throughout the country. These events are typically led by a moderator and opened up to Q&A for the final 15-20 minutes of the session. It's a great way to spend a lunch, meet like-minded classmates, and connect with seasoned experts.
We also run a weekly startup and VC bootcamp series in the fall to get all members up to speed, which is led by the co-chairs as well as outside professionals.
Recent notable speakers have included:
• Steven Galanis, CEO Cameo
• Sam Yagan, Founder OK Cupid
• Maria Katris, Founder of Built In
• David Rabie, CEO Tovala
• John Ciasulli, CEO Nubundle / Uptake
• Oliver Samwer, Founder Rocket Internet
