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Fusion92
Fusion92: Chicago-based independent venture firm and venture studio founded in 1995 by Matt Murphy, backing early-stage enterprise and deep tech.
Fusion92
Fusion92 was founded in Chicago in 1995 by Matt Murphy. The firm spent its first two decades as an independent digital marketing agency before a strategic pivot into venture capital. By 2018, Fusion92 had committed fully to a dual-structure investment model — direct venture capital and a venture studio — making it one of the few Midwest-based firms that both funds and co-founds startups using in-house product and engineering talent. Fusion92 deploys capital across early-stage enterprise software, fintech, digital health, and energy transition. The firm's venture studio arm, 92Labs, systematically identifies market gaps and co-builds companies, providing a proprietary pipeline that feeds into the venture fund. The fund then leads or participates in seed and Series A rounds. The firm emphasizes operational involvement, often embedding its own product designers and engineers alongside founders during the first 18 months. Confirmed publicly known portfolio companies include Truss, a commercial real-estate platform, and Zero Hash, a crypto-as-a-service infrastructure provider. Geographic focus centers on North America, with a concentration in the Midwest and select coastal tech hubs. The firm operates from its Chicago headquarters and a secondary office in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Team size and total capital deployed remain undisclosed. Fusion92 has not publicly disclosed a fundraising vehicle filing with the SEC. Adjacent structures include the 92Labs venture studio, which functions as a collaborative newco builder rather than an accelerator. No philanthropic foundation or club affiliation has been publicly associated with the firm. Fusion92's structural distinctiveness lies in its venture-studio model, which makes it a company-creator as much as a company-funder. Unlike traditional venture firms that source from external deal flow, Fusion92 generates a portion of its portfolio internally through 92Labs, retaining significant founder-level equity and operational control in those startups. This hybrid architecture — agency heritage, product-build capability, and early-stage capital — creates an origination moat that the firm's Chicago location reinforces, operating outside the intensely competitive coastal fundraising and deal-auction ecosystems.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1995
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Additional offices
Hoffman Estates, IL
Principals
Matt Murphy
CEO & Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Fusion92?
Matt Murphy, the founder and CEO, leads all investment decisions. He transitioned the firm from its marketing-agency origins into a venture platform and remains the central decision-maker on fund allocations and studio launches. The firm has not publicly named a separate CIO or investment committee.
What is 92Labs and how does it relate to the venture fund?
92Labs is Fusion92's venture studio — an in-house team that identifies market opportunities and co-founds companies from scratch, providing product design, engineering, and initial operating leadership. The venture fund then invests in these studio-born startups and also in external early-stage companies. The studio acts as a proprietary sourcing engine, giving the fund access to deal flow that does not compete in broad auctions.
Does Fusion92 invest only in companies it builds through its studio?
No. While the 92Labs studio generates a portion of the portfolio, Fusion92's venture fund also invests in external startups as a lead or co-investor. The studio pipeline is a sourcing advantage, but the firm evaluates outside opportunities and has publicly backed companies including Truss and Zero Hash, which were not internally founded.
What investment stages does Fusion92 target?
Fusion92 focuses on the earliest stages — pre-seed, seed, and Series A. The venture studio arm creates companies at the concept stage, while the fund typically enters at seed or Series A. The firm has not publicly disclosed late-stage or growth-equity activity.
How does Fusion92 source deals outside of the coastal venture hubs?
Fusion92's Chicago headquarters and Hoffman Estates office position it outside the concentrated coastal venture markets. The firm's studio model allows it to originate companies internally, bypassing traditional deal-flow auctions. For external deals, the firm leverages its Midwest network and domain-specific relationships in enterprise software, fintech, and digital health.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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