​Angel Curious or Expert Investor?

​Are you angel curious and interested in learning more about early-stage investing?

​Are you a seasoned angel and interested in meeting more of your fellow investors?

​Are you a post-Seed stage founder and would also like to learn about angel investing? (See below for our special 70% off program for founders-turned-angels.)

​If so, please join us for the the 2nd annual Lofty Angels Summit. It will be a full day of informative sessions, actionable insights, and plenty of opportunities to build relationships with fellow investors.

​The 2026 Lofty Angels Summit will be a huge upgrade from our inaugural summit in 2025. The summit returns to Bank of America's gorgeous building in downtown Chicago, but this year we have upgraded to the building's ballroom. The space features sweeping views of the city and more than triple the capacity. This year will also include a showcase area to enable attendees to learn more about some of Lofty's partners and portfolio companies.

​Early bird tickets will be on sale until June 30th or once 50 are sold, whichever comes first, so get your ticket right away.

​Brilliant People, Invaluable Knowledge & Memorable Experiences

​The speakers at the summit include authors, angel investors, business school professors, VCs, founders, and corporate supporters, who have collectively backed, advised and/or built hundreds of early-stage startups.

​The full agenda and speaker list will be announced soon but here are some highlights:

• ​Keynote from Josh Luber, the founder of StockX, Fanatics Collectibles & ghostwrite

• ​Fireside chat with Tom Sosnoff, the founder of five exited businesses including tastytrade and thinkorswim, and angel investor in dozens of startups

• ​Fireside chat with Chris Yeh, Reid Hoffman’s co-author of Blitzscaling and Founding Partner of Blitzscaling Ventures

• ​Founder-turned-angels panel with Matt Singley, Co-founder & CEO of ReloShare, #2 on the Inc5000

• ​Amanda Lannert, CEO of JellyVision, and angel investor in dozens of startups including exits from Tock & SpotHero

• ​Mike Gamson, Co-founder at Permanent Capital, angel investor, and early LinkedIn executive

• ​Jeff Eschbach, Co-founder of Chicago Early Growth Ventures, angel investor in dozens of startups, exited founder, and professor at Kellogg

​What To Expect At The Summit

​We will provide a light breakfast at check-in, boxed lunches, and snacks and drinks throughout the day. There will be a special raffle, awesome giveaways, and of course Lofty's swag bags are always next level, so you won't be leaving empty handed.

​Come dressed however you would like. This summit is about angel investing in startups after all, so you'll see everything from jeans to suits.

​More info on last year's summit is available at loftyangels.com and the full info for the 2026 summit will be there soon as well.

​ATTENTION FOUNDERS: Apply For 70% Off Discount

​We are excited to welcome startup founders who would like to attend the summit, provided your startup is in the post-Seed stage and your intent is to learn about angel investing, not to solicit attendees for angel investments.  If this sounds like you, then apply here to receive a 70% off discount.

​A central goal of Lofty Angels is to enable more founders to learn angel investing earlier in their careers, and one of the goals of this summit is to help enable more founders-turned-angels or as we call them FTAs.  We will be hosting a panel with all FTAs to share why they decided to begin angel investing and how it has benefited them thus far in their entrepreneurial journeys. We hope you can joins us at the summit, so we can learn together!

​We will cap off the day with an optional (see note below) afterparty from 5:30 to 7:30 in the building’s epic indoor/outdoor space overlooking the Chicago River, with gorgeous views of the Loop’s skyline.  We will welcome electronic musician, recording artist Lofty's Musician in Residence, Com Truise to perform a private DJ set while we mingle with over a hundred members of the Chicago startup community.

​NOTE: To attend the the afterparty (aka Lofty Summer Rooftop Party): when registering for the Summit, please select the "Summit + Party" ticket or you won't be able to attend the party. The summit runs from 10AM to 5PM and the afterparty runs 5:30PM to 7:30PM. Both the summit and the afterparty are in the same building. There is no additional cost to attend the afterparty but we have limited capacity and need an accurate count, so please only sign up for this ticket if you plan on attending the party.

​Thank you to all of Lofty's partners and especially our Lead Partners, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, for powering this event and all of our programming.

​​About Lofty Ventures

​Lofty Ventures is building a compounding flywheel for Chicago’s next generation of founders and angels by investing early, bringing together a highly curated community, and helping founders become angels sooner. Operating as a family office, investor syndicate, angel platform, and startup community, Lofty combines capital, relationships, and education to drive stronger outcomes over time. Across its direct investments and syndicate, Lofty has invested $5M+ at the earliest stages in 100 companies and 180 founders, with 80% based in Chicago and 75% led by underrepresented entrepreneurs. Lofty Angels, its free community, helps members learn early-stage investing and access curated co-investment opportunities. Learn more at loftyventures.com, loftyangels.com, loftycamp.com, and loftycity.org.

​​About Bank of America

​In the fast-moving Tech industry, one thing is constant — innovation wins. Bank of America’s dedicated Transformative Technology Group is by your side with the resources, solutions and vision to give you an advantage in the marketplace. Drawing on our global connections and networks, we help clients achieve their objectives.

​Learn more here.