📣 We’re excited to announce the launch of Third Coast Foundry – a new San Francisco hub connecting Midwestern research universities with the Bay Area venture ecosystem! @CarnegieMellon @PurdueInnovates @WARF_News @UWMadison @WashU Continue reading>> polsky.uchicago.edu/2026/03/…

🌏 The Polsky Center is expanding its global deep tech footprint by joining IDTA as an affiliate member and launching the India Deep Tech Accelerator powered by the Polsky Center in collaboration with leading IIT innovation partners. polsky.uchicago.edu/2026/02/…

Discover four recent funding successes born out of the @polskycenter, including a tokenization platform and a proptech company specializing in short-term rentals. #WhyBooth ms.spr.ly/6018tsyzk

Hyde Park Labs and the UChicago Science Incubator are officially open! polsky.uchicago.edu/2025/09/…

🚨Professor Steven Kaplan: Does Venture Capital & Private Equity Really Outperform the S&P 500 in 2025? What if nearly every long-held belief about private markets was just turned upside down? 👀 💼 For years, institutional investors have poured billions into Venture Capital and Private Equity, often believing these asset classes guarantee superior returns over traditional public markets. But does the data back that up as we move into 2025? Some numbers might surprise you — and challenge the way you think about portfolio construction. 👇 Here’s what I learned sitting down with Professor Steve Kaplan and digging through deep-dive analytics covering Harvard, Yale, and a slew of top-performing funds: - Buyouts smashed the S&P 500 by 360 basis points annually (net, incl. dividends, 2000–2019 vintages) 📈💥 - Comparing to the Russell 2000? Buyouts have outperformed by a whopping 460 basis points — even better. - Venture capital’s returns have been a rollercoaster: some vintages led the S&P by 20–30%, others underperformed by as much as 20% 😲 - Mega-funds (>$10B) look... average. It's the small and mid-market buyout funds that quietly outperform, especially when investors can access co-invest rights 🏆 - PE delivers real diversification: buyouts do NOT just mimic leverage on the S&P 500. Beta estimates hover at 1, not 1.4 , so correlation benefits are real 🔄 - Fee drag can bite hard: “2 and 20” classic fee structure turns into a 6% annualized cost unless you optimize with co-investments 🚦 - Returns for vintage years packed with capital flows (think 2006–08, 2020–21) trend downward — while ‘unloved’ vintages often later prove top decile. But here’s the curveball: recent vintages, especially 2020–2022, show buyouts delivering the same—or worse—returns than the S&P 500. The PME (public market equivalent) for these is below 1, and direct alpha drops negative. Is this the end of easy outperformance? Or just a cyclical blip before another private market surge? Special shoutout to the brilliant minds mentioned in this episode: Antoinette Schoar (MIT), co-creator of the Kaplan-Schoar PME metric and data providers MCI Burgiss, Cambridge Associates, and PitchBook for advancing transparency in private markets. We also touched on legendary VC firms like Founders Fund, Sequoia, and Benchmark, whose consistent performance shapes the venture landscape. 👇 Share your predictions or your toughest questions below! #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #Investing #Finance #S&P500 Link to Podcast in Comments Below 👇

@AlchemistAcc's launch w/ @polskycenter reinforces the Bay Area–Chicago corridor Harper Court propels – channeling top research to startup creation with Silicon Valley speed. It's a powerful boost for early founders navigating the lab-to-market pipeline. polsky.uchicago.edu/2025/07/…

“Rayni is the third time, and it’s the charm.” Read more aboout Rayni, winner of the 2025 NVC Rattan L. Khosa First-Place Prize of $895,000, the largest share of a record-breaking $2.2 million in total awards.>> lnkd.in/gxaFZJRn

BIG news in quantum innovation! @UChicago is partnering with @IBM to strengthen the quantum startup ecosystem in Illinois through the Duality Accelerator, the nation’s first accelerator dedicated to quantum technologies. polsky.uchicago.edu/2025/07/…

Excited to announce Alchemist Chicago in partnership with the @UofC @polskycenter , focused on deep tech startups, leveraging the @UofC's amazing resources and labs with @AlchemistAcc's program and network. Emphasis on Quantum, AI Infrastructure, Robotics lnkd.in/gjmzPi5d

chicago tech week kicked off with the @UChicago tech ventures demo day, hosted by @polskycenter at @Google. gained valuable insights into quantum computing, clean energy, data, and ai. let us keep the momentum going. don't miss our nationwide, top-notch web3 investor day hosted by @decasonic this thursday at willis tower in chicago.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Ed Kaplan, ’71 — visionary entrepreneur, generous philanthropist, and beloved member of the University of Chicago community. As the namesake and benefactor of the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71 New Venture Challenge (NVC). chicagotribune.com/obituarie…

The UChicago Science Incubator is officially up and running, and we’re excited to have members move into the space. @portalinno the Polsky Center, and @uchicago have all played a critical role in helping launch the space in Hyde Park. linkedin.com/company/uchicag…

Just wrapped a successful demo day out in the Bay Area featuring 27 Chicago deep tech startups from @UChicago @NorthwesternU and @UofIllinois pitching 150 investors to showcase the best of the Midwest. Thanks to @pearvc for hosting & our team at @polskycenter for organizing!