Ben Ginsburg
Senior Associate
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- Full Name
- Ben Ginsburg *(as given in stub; not independently verified)*
- Title
- Senior Associate *(per stub; not verifiable — not listed on the firm's team page)*
- Firm
- Vernon & Park Capital, L.P.
- Firm Type
- Private equity / venture capital *(the stub's "Angel Investors" label does not match the firm's own positioning)*
- Investment Stage
- Growth-stage / minority & majority equity in revenue-generating companies *(the stub's "Seed Round" label conflicts with the firm's stated $2M+ revenue requirement)*
- Sector Focus
- Coffee, financial technology, exchanges & financial markets, gaming/e-sports, food technology; historically also cannabis and pharma
- Location
- Chicago, Illinois (10 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 1830, Chicago, IL 60606)
Background
Vernon & Park Capital, L.P. is a Chicago-based private equity and venture capital firm founded in 2002. It was established and is led by Jim (James S.) Ginsburg, the firm's founder and Managing Partner, who spent over twenty years as an active trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) before moving into fund management. The firm's small, family-anchored team also includes Linda Ginsburg (Managing Director) and Max Witt (Investor). The shared Ginsburg surname in the stub is consistent with the firm's family-led structure, but no public record ties a "Ben Ginsburg" to a role there, so his career, education, and tenure cannot be responsibly described.
Vernon & Park positions itself as a strategic-value investor rather than a passive check-writer, combining sector expertise with financial analysis and an operating/industry network to help portfolio companies grow. It makes both minority and majority investments and generally requires a company to have a minimum of ~$2 million in revenue (or proprietary assets of equivalent value) at the time of investment — a profile materially later-stage than the "seed/angel" framing in the stub data.
If "Ben Ginsburg" is a newer, junior team member (e.g., a Senior Associate not yet reflected on the public site or in aggregator databases), that would explain the absence of records — but that is speculation, and the specifics below should be confirmed directly with the firm before relying on them.
Investment Thesis & Focus
*(Firm-level, verified; the individual's personal thesis could not be sourced.)*
- Invests in industries where the firm can add strategic value, led by deep sector knowledge rather than a broad spray-and-pray approach.
- Primary current sector themes: coffee and financial technology; broader portfolio has spanned exchanges/financial markets, gaming & e-sports, food technology, cannabis, and pharmaceuticals.
- Targets revenue-generating companies (minimum ~$2M in revenue or equivalently valued IP), taking minority or majority stakes — i.e., growth equity, not typical seed/angel tickets.
- Value proposition beyond capital: industry relationships, operating insight, and hands-on partnership to help companies "maximize their economic potential."
Notable Investments
- aXiomatic Gaming — e-sports and gaming holding company (parent of Team Liquid); Vernon & Park participated in a 2018 investment.
- Spinn Coffee — connected/bean-to-cup coffee machine and coffee-delivery company; fits the firm's coffee-sector focus.
- Monarch Tractor — electric, driver-optional smart tractor maker (agtech/cleantech).
- Nudge — food-products company.
- Currensee (Currensee Global) — social trading/FX network; recorded as a firm exit around 2013 (acquired by OANDA).
- Aggregators report roughly ~20 total investments and ~3 exits across the firm's history.
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