Don Thompson brings an unusual combination to venture investing as the former CEO of McDonald's who started as an electrical engineer and grew up in Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project, giving him both Fortune 500 operating experience and lived experience with underrepresented communities. He and his wife Liz co-founded Cleveland Avenue with an explicit focus on backing diverse founders through what he describes as a love-centered, multi-decade relationship approach rather than purely transactional investing.
About their Fund
Cleveland Avenue
Sectors
Food & Ag, CPG / D2C, Retail Tech, Robotics, AI
Rounds
Seed - Series B+
Avg Check Size
$1M - S10M
Notable Investments
Founded and led by Don Thompson, the first Black CEO of McDonald's, Cleveland Avenue runs a $70M fund (CAST US) that is structurally mandated to deploy 75% of capital into Black- and Hispanic-owned companies, 75% on Chicago's South and West Sides, and 50% women-founded companies. Rather than acting as a passive capital provider, Cleveland Avenue pairs its food and beverage-focused investments with hands-on operating support delivered by a ~50-person team built around Thompson's deep restaurant-industry expertise.
Notable Fund
Investments
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Popular Investors
investor name
Active in
Rounds
Avg. Check
Links
Deeptech / Hardware
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Robotics
Biotech
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12
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $2M
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Defense
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7
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
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$100K - $5M
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7
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$100K - $5M
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$250K - $2M
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Climate
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Materials
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4
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
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$400K - $1.5M
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7
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Pre-Seed - Seed
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$400K - $2M
Unknown
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Deeptech / Hardware
Robotics
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
~$750K
Unknown
Fintech
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$250K-$1M
Unknown
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