Gies Business announces creation of Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship

Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign is proud to announce the launch of the Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship, a central hub for entrepreneurial activities at one of the premier public business schools in America. The Office is supported by a nearly $5 million gift, originally initiated in 2018, from The REAM Foundation. That investment was

 provided in honor of Gies Business alumnus Steve Miller (BA, ’87), and additional support was generously provided by Gies alumnus Bruce N. Barron (ACCY, '77), who co‑founded Origin Ventures with Miller (right). 

“The Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship will simultaneously elevate a number of our programs and help us continue to pursue our commitments of innovation and excellence,” said W. Brooke Elliott, Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor in Business and Dean of Gies College of Business. “We have some of the world’s top rising, young entrepreneurs and a number of leading scholars specializing in the science of entrepreneurship; both will benefit greatly from this new office.”

The REAM Foundation is a private family foundation, which since 2007 has awarded more than $30 million in grants supporting education and healthcare. Origin Ventures is a leading venture capital firm that collaborates with ambitious founders to build high‑growth, innovative, category‑defining technology companies. Best known for being the first investors in Grubhub, Miller and Barron have been raising and providing seed and early‑stage money for entrepreneurs and startups for more than 25 years.

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