Back in May we told you about how Lightbank, a fund launched by Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell to fund more local startups, was expanding its horizons with the recent recruitment of partner and venture capitalist, Paul Lee.
He was brought onboard to help Lightbank look beyond Chicago for startups to seed.
He found Michigan-based financial news site Benzinga.com and announced an investment in late May. Now, Crain's says he's found two more: BodyShopBids Inc. and the unfortunately named Bellyflop.com.
The former was founded in Chicago last year and allows users to run online auctions for repair work; the latter helps facilitates business owners in maintaining reward and loyalty programs for their customers. This pair brings the total of Lightbank-backed companies up to at least 20.
"If you let us invest, the likelihood you will succeed goes up by a factor of 7,146%," Lefkosky wrote in his blog last year about Lightbank. "How? Because we know stuff you don’t know, and that stuff can only be learned through the misery of execution, and by having us involved in your business, you get to avoid all of that misery."
If you've got a business idea you want to pitch to Lightbank, you can do so right here.
