About LAGO
LAGO is a venture capital firm located in Chicago, United States. As of Mar 2026, LAGO is an active investor, having invested in 15 companies, with 1 new investment in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series A round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to FinTech and Consumer. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series B round of Stake Overall, LAGO portfolio has seen 1 unicorn and 1 acquisition, namely Clara and ExoTerra. A lot of funds co-invest with LAGO, with names like Gaingels sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. LAGO has team of 17 people including 5 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 2 more
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Unicorns
Deals in last 12 months
LAGO's List of Top Investments
LAGO has a portfolio of 15 companies, one of which is a Unicorn. Their most notable investments are in Stio and ExoTerra.Their portfolio spans across United States, Canada, Finland and 3 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, FinTech, Consumer and 14 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 2 more. Here is the list of top investments by LAGO:1. Stake
Alternative investment platform for real estate. It provides a platform for users to invest in various real estate properties. Its features include opening up a profile, search for the type of property they want to invest in, and get rental income in return for investing. It also lets real estate agents and property owners put up properties for investment or sale.
Key facts about Stake
- Founded Year: 2020
- Location: Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $65M
- Employee Count: 20 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: Mubadala, Gaingels and 20 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, Mar 11, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Aura Frame
Provider of smart digital frames. It automatically detects and displays the best photos from the user's phone. Also, it creates photo collections based on the persons in the photos. The photos added in the frame get auto-updated with the latest pictures. Users can also share photos with others' frames. The application is available for download only on App Store.
Key facts about Aura Frame
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: New York City (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $46.9M
- Employee Count: 59 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: Spark Capital, DCVC and 3 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Nov 22, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Clara
An end-to-end corporate payment solution for companies. The solution includes locally-issued corporate cards, bill pay, cross-border payments, and a software platform used by multiple companies across the region.
Key facts about Clara
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Cuauhtemoc (Mexico)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $204M
- Employee Count: 2 as on Feb 28, 2026
- Investors: Goldman Sachs, Hone Capital and 40 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, Dec 01, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. SynergySuite
AI-powered restaurant management software for streamlined operations and increased profitability. This is a comprehensive, module-based platform designed to optimize back-of-house operations for restaurants, pubs, and multi-unit franchises. The software offers a suite of tools including AI ordering and forecasting, inventory management, purchasing, labor and scheduling, reporting and analytics, operations, food safety, cash management, and HR. It provides real-time data, automated insights, and mobile apps to empower teams and improve efficiency across all locations. The platform is translatable and localized for global solutions, helping businesses predict smarter, operate faster, and waste less. It integrates with existing POS, payroll, and HR systems to unify operations and empower teams with a single source of truth. This is a SaaS solution that simplifies complex tasks, ensures compliance, and drives data-driven decisions to grow your business.
Key facts about SynergySuite
- Founded Year: 2011
- Location: Dublin (Ireland)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $28.6M
- Employee Count: 89 as on Dec 21, 2025
- Investors: Oyster Capital, First Analysis and 16 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Aug 20, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. Stio
Online retailer of multiple sports apparel. Its product portfolio includes jackets, shirts, pants, thermals, hoodies tech. Their manufacturing is done in the US, Canada and China with textiles sourced from the USA, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Portugal, China, Taiwan, and Korea.
Key facts about Stio
- Founded Year: 2011
- Location: Wilson (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $42.6M
- Employee Count: 100 as on Dec 31, 2022
- Investors: Sandbridge Capital, KarpReilly and 2 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, May 08, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
LAGO's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
LAGO has invested in 15 companies over the last 5 years, with an average of 3 new investments annually in the last 5 years. In 2025, it made 1 investment, while as of Mar 2026, it has made 1 investment in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Stake and most recent follow-on round was in SynergySuite.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2025 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2023 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
2022 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
2021 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
LAGO's Investments by Stage
LAGO has made 6 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $7.51M, 4 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $28.5M, 3 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $1.9M and 2 investments in Conventional Debt stage with an average round size of $3.75M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 6 |
Series B | 4 |
Seed | 3 |
Conventional Debt | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
LAGO's Investments by Sector
LAGO has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Consumer, Enterprise Applications, FinTech, HealthTech and High Tech. Notably, it has invested in 14 Tech companies, 9 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 8 Consumer (B2C) companies and at least 7 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Consumer | 5 |
Enterprise Applications | 5 |
FinTech | 3 |
HealthTech | 3 |
High Tech | 3 |
Others | 19 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
LAGO's Investments by Geography
LAGO has made most investments in United States (10), followed by Canada where it has made 1 investment.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 10 |
Canada | 1 |
Finland | 1 |
Ireland | 1 |
Mexico | 1 |
Others | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
LAGO's recent investments
LAGO has made 1 investments in 2026 so far - Stake.Here are the most recent investments by LAGO:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 11, 2026 | United Arab Emirates | Series B | 3925 | [+5] | |
Aug 20, 2025 | Ireland | Conventional Debt | 4790 | - | |
Jun 20, 2024 | United States | Series A | 8915 | - | |
Dec 12, 2023 | United States | Conventional Debt | 8550 | - | |
Oct 03, 2023 | United States | Seed | 9808 |
Unicorns in LAGO's Portfolio
LAGO has 1 unicorn in its portfolio - Clara. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Clara which became a unicorn in 2021, 1 years before LAGO first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in LAGO's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
67 | An end-to-end corporate payment solution for companies | 2014 | Cuauhtemoc | Series B | rjiihtk |
Acquired companies in LAGO's Portfolio
1 company from LAGO's portfolio has been acquired. The most recent acquisition were ExoTerra in Oct 2025 by Voyager Space.Here are LAGO's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 27, 2025 | Jun 20, 2024 | Series A | 7673 |
Team profile of LAGO
LAGO has a team of 17 members including 5 Partners and 5 Principals located in United States. LAGO's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in LAGO:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Newport Beach | - | ||
Partner | Chicago | - | ||
Partner | Chicago | - | ||
Partner | Chicago | - | ||
Partner | Menlo Park | - | ||
Principal | Chicago | - | ||
Principal | Atlanta | - | ||
Principal | Chicago | - | ||
Principal | United States | - | ||
Principal | Chicago | - | - |
Co-investors of LAGO
Over the past 5 years, 105 investors have co-invested in LAGO's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before LAGO: Techstars, Mubadala and 42 others have invested in rounds before LAGO. There are 2 companies where Techstars has invested before LAGO and 1 company where Mubadala has invested before LAGO.
- Top Co-investors of LAGO: 47 investors entered a company along with LAGO. These include investors like Gaingels (2 companies).
- Invested after LAGO: A total of 14 investors have invested in LAGO's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Citi Ventures (1 company), Kaszek (1 company) and BBVA Spark (1 company).
Recent News related to LAGO
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SynergySuite Raises $12 Million to Accelerate its AI Engine that's Redefining Restaurant Chain Ops
PR Newswire•Aug 20, 2025•LAGO, Oyster Ventures, First Analysis, SynergySuite and 1 other
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ExoTerra raises $8 million to boost propulsion system productionSpaceNews•Jun 20, 2024•ExoTerra, LAGO
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Organigram Invests in U.S. Based Open Book Extracts Representing Inaugural Jupiter InvestmentSurge Battery Metals Inc•Mar 26, 2024•Steady State, Organigram, ATB Capital Markets, Open Book Extracts and 4 others
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Safely raises $8m to spur growth and European expansionShortTermRentalz•Oct 03, 2023•Safely, Highgate, LAGO
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GGV Leads USD60m Series B+ for Mexico’s ClaraLAVCA•Apr 27, 2023•Notable Capital, Clara, Endeavor, Citi and 10 others
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Aura, the frame and photo startup, raises $26M as app users near 3M and frames sold pass 500KTechCrunch+•Nov 22, 2022•LAGO, Spark Capital, SV Angel, Betaworks and 2 others
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Safely Secures $12 Million to Extend Short-Term Home Rental Insurance LeadershipInsuranceNewsNet•Oct 19, 2022•LAGO, Safely, Highgate, Greenlight Re
