Exposition Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Exposition Ventures is a Chicago-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2021, built around the idea of "probability over possibility." The firm's name and branding draw on the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, framing the fund's mission as identifying frontier technologies that are most likely to become foundational to the next industrial age, rather than merely interesting. The firm targets deep-tech and heavy-industry intersections: machine learning, quantum computing, robotics, industrial IoT, and related enabling technologies. Their stated approach is to bring "an expert eye" from principals with operational, financial, and technical backgrounds inside engineering, science, and manufacturing organizations, and to help founders translate a technical solution into a scalable industrial business.
Sector Focus
Exposition organizes its portfolio around an "Industrial Value Chain" taxonomy that spans Advanced Manufacturing, Commercial, Customer Experience, Product Development, Supply Chain & Logistics, and Workforce Enablement, split further into Hardware and Software categories. In practice this covers: industrial AI and robotics controllers, industrial DataOps/IoT platforms, electronics design and manufacturing platforms, frontline workforce identity and enablement tools, OT/industrial cybersecurity, quantum networking, and next-generation electric motor/generator hardware for mobility and energy.
Stage Focus
Exposition is an early-stage investor, with public deal reporting (Oloid's $6.0M Series A, Frenos's $1.5M co-led round) suggesting the fund plays from seed through Series A. The website references only "Fund I" and does not disclose a formal stage matrix, so exact pre-seed/seed/Series A boundaries are not independently confirmed.
Check Size
No explicit check-size range is published on the website. Third-party deal data (Frenos $1.5M co-lead; Oloid $6.0M Series A) implies typical rounds Exposition participates in run from roughly $1M to $10M, consistent with an early-stage industrial-tech fund, but this should be treated as an inference rather than a firm-stated policy.
Lead Tendency
Exposition has both led and co-led deals (e.g., co-led the $1.5M Frenos round in July 2026), suggesting a "both" lead/follow posture rather than a strict lead-only or follow-only mandate.
Recent Activity
The firm is actively deploying and publishing regularly. Recent public activity includes co-leading a $1.5M investment in Frenos (OT penetration testing) in July 2026, launching a firm newsletter ("The Exposition Examiner") in July 2026, and multiple portfolio-company milestones through the first half of 2026 (AMESA's "Data to Autonomy" methodology launch, OLOID's Workday identity-assurance integration and Microsoft Intelligent Security Association membership, Xaba joining the Digital Twin Consortium, HighByte's IDC MarketScape leader positioning and Inc. Regionals fastest-growing-companies recognition, MacroFab product updates, and memQ's selection by DARPA to advance quantum computing at scale). As of July 2026, the firm was also reportedly exploring a dedicated India-focused fund and courting Indian LPs for a new US vehicle, per a VCCircle report.
Portfolio Highlights
Exposition's portfolio (12+ companies identified) spans: Xaba (AI-native industrial robotics controllers), memQ (quantum networking on silicon photonics, selected by DARPA), HighByte (industrial DataOps, recognized as an IDC MarketScape leader), MacroFab (electronics design/manufacturing/assembly platform), AMESA (autonomous industrial AI systems), Canvas GFX (digital work instructions), Oloid (passwordless identity for frontline workers, integrated with Workday and a Microsoft Intelligent Security Association member), OpsMate AI (generative/agentic manufacturing AI for frontline teams), C-Motive (electrostatic motors and generators for mobility and wind power), Momentum Optics (on-demand, automated optics manufacturing), Steadi.ai (AI-enabled freight spend and workflow platform), and Frenos (simulated OT cybersecurity pen-testing). No exits are publicly documented yet.
Team
- Karen Kerr, PhD — General Partner
- Carlos Furlotti — Principal
- Kamal Vasagiri — Venture Partner
- Sujeet Chand, PhD — Venture Partner
- Karthik Ramani, PhD — Venture Partner
- James Hugill, CPA — CFO
- Deepika DiGiovine — Advisor
- Beth Comstock — Advisor
- Keith Crandell — Advisor
The team's public bios emphasize decades of experience at the intersection of deep tech and heavy industry, describing themselves as "builders, operators, scientists, and strategists with roots in some of the most iconic industrial organizations in the world," including leadership of global R&D initiatives and corporate industrial venture arms.
Decision Process
Not explicitly disclosed. Given the partnership structure (GP, Principal, three Venture Partners, CFO, and three Advisors), a partnership-style decision process is the most likely fit, though this is inferred rather than confirmed.
Founder Preferences
The firm's messaging emphasizes technical founders solving foundational, deep-tech problems in industrial settings — the "fundament of industry" — rather than consumer or purely software plays. They position themselves as partners who "really see the need the entrepreneur sees," implying a preference for domain-expert founders tackling hard engineering problems.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered in Chicago, IL. The firm invests broadly across US industrial-tech hubs (portfolio companies are distributed across the US) and, per the July 2026 VCCircle report, is exploring expansion of its LP base and deal sourcing into India.