A Chicago-based venture capital firm, Portal Innovations, is seeking to expand its footprint in lab real estate with what could be viewed as a vertical integration approach. The firm calls it “crafted capital” — providing firms with seed capital, access to wet lab space and management mentorship to help add to the value of its investments.
The firm took this approach in part out of necessity, founder and CEO John Flavin said. Chicago biotech companies could tap into research from local universities such as Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, but lacked biotech startup infrastructure. 
“I became very interested in trying…