Kevin Willer is a partner at Chicago Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital fund, where he oversees all aspects of Chicago Ventures including fund management, deal sourcing and investments, and working directly with portfolio companies. He joined the fund in June 2013. From 2011 to 2013, Kevin was the president and CEO of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC). The CEC manages, operates and programs 1871, a leading co-working center serving hundreds of startups building their early-stage businesses located at Chicago’s famed Merchandise Mart. Since opening in May 2012, 1871 has welcomed thousands of visitors to events and curated hundreds of workshops and office hours with mentors for entrepreneurs. During this time, Kevin was also a venture partner at Pritzker Group Venture Capital, overseeing their early-stage Seed Investments. Previously, Kevin co-founded the Google Chicago office in late 2000. Before Google, Kevin held business development positions at CMGI, an early internet incubator, and USRobotics, the pioneer in modem technology.