CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

U of C startup that targets migraines gets seed money

A University of Chicago researcher who has developed a new treatment for migraines has raised $750,000 for his startup.

Seurat Therapeutics treats migraines with a nasal spray of an insulin-like hormone called Growth Factor 1. The treatment is based on research by Dr. Richard Kraig, a neurologist. The company is headed by Yuan Zhang, who received her doctorate in molecular medicine from U of C.
...
Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...s-seed-funding

Is it good for people dissatisfied with the size of their nose, too?

Originally Posted by marothisu

...
Also, the amount of startups and home grown companies would easily kick into high gear probably a year later. When you have thousands of workers coming in for something like this, you bet your ass that there will be numerous who leave to start their own companies. Many of which possibly wouldn't have started if those people would have never been lured to Chicago in the first place and been set up around whomever. There's a reason why areas like Boston, Seattle, etc have so much of this at the end of the day - a lot of people were lured by large companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Nintendo, etc and ultimately formed their own stuff. If not for those companies luring them there, they could have formed a company elsewhere.

I agree, the impact of churn on startups would be positive. I think the heaviest impact would start about 3-5 years after Amazon passed 10,000 jobs here. Their vest schedule is 4 years, so most people they hire here will likely not leave for that time and I'd guess they'll create some sort of 4-year "golden handcuff" for anyone they choose to move here, and I think 10,000 is about the number where we'd see a significant increase in people with business ideas.

[the urban politician]

The key point in this article is that Sprout Social is doubling its space to 128k sf:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-sprout-social

[left of center]

Another article about ICE (owner of the NYSE) buying the CSX. An interesting tidbit at the bottom of the article, in bold:

Source: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...stock-exchange

A higher price offered by NYSE might also be justified because buying a stock exchange license is faster than attaining government approval for a new one, Herron said. The premium could also help fend off rival offers.

Also, the Bitcoin craze has driven interest in acquiring exchange licenses that could be potentially converted into trading of cryptocurrencies. The trend has sparked entrepreneurial initiatives, especially among Chicago's experienced derivatives traders and their firms.

This is all entirely speculation t this point, but it is interesting to consider. The CSX accounts for half of one percent of all stocks traded in the US (and this is down from around 2% from a decade before), so the CSX isn't a valuable acquisition based on volume or market share. The exchange license is what was paid for here, and the possibility of turning it into a platform for trading cryptos. Chicago already has a head start on this, with the CME and CBOE trading crypto futures, thus there would already be a labor pool of experienced traders that are familiar with the product.

Interesting to see where this goes. Whatever happens, hopefully the exchange remains in Chicago.

[Tom In Chicago]

[MODERATOR NOTE] Cleaned up all the politics/taxes/whatever posts and moved them here:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=213683

. . .

[marothisu]

This is not really big news, but interesting. They were in Rolling Meadows and making the not so huge move to Chicago near O'Hare. For those of you who understand the inner workings of how this might affect the city - how much money might this mean for the city per year (let's say no incentives were offered from the city)? A few million? More? Less?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...409-story.html
Construction equipment-maker Komatsu to move U.S. headquarters to Chicago

Chairman and CEO Rod Schrader said in a statement that the company is making the move to be close to transportation options and to help attract prospective employees living in the city and studying at nearby universities. The new office also has an open floor plan, which the company said it hopes will foster collaboration between teams.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

This is not really big news, but interesting. They were in Rolling Meadows and making the not so huge move to Chicago near O'Hare. For those of you who understand the inner workings of how this might affect the city - how much money might this mean for the city per year (let's say no incentives were offered from the city)? A few million? More? Less?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...409-story.html
Construction equipment-maker Komatsu to move U.S. headquarters to Chicago

Can't be a huge impact, some sales taxes and re taxes will be generated but nothing substantial I imagine.

Still good news. It must be tough trying to get people to work in Rolling Meadows.

[the urban politician]

Another successful Chicago startup:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...unicorn-status

[Justin_Chicago]

BallotReady Raises $1.5M To Expand its Voter Guide Platform Nationwide

Chicago startup BallotReady, which aims to help voters make more informed decisions, announced Wednesday that it has raised $1.5 million in a seed round that will help the company expand its service to all 50 states by the fall midterm elections.

Investors in the round include InvestHER Ventures, Wakestream Ventures, New Media Ventures, Hard Yaka and Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney.

As part of the new funding, the startup is bringing on Mike Saunders as its new chief technology officer. He is the founder of online food ordering and delivery company Dotmenu, which he sold to Grubhub in 2011.

BallotReady, founded by Alex Niemczewski and Aviva Rosman in 2015, has created a platform that gives people information about candidates up and down their ballot, particularly in local elections. The startup, which was also one of Chicago Inno’s 18 startups to watch in 2018, says that it has more comprehensive data on local elections than the RNC and DNC. During the Illinois primary in March, BallotReady’s voter guide reached 7 percent of all the state’s voters.

“There is enormous interest around the upcoming 2018 midterms,” Niemczewski, CEO, said in a statement. “We are excited to be nationwide this fall, helping voters make their voices heard beyond the major races and deep into their community leadership, creating change at every level.”

BallotReady received foundational support from the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and won the college’s New Venture Challenge in 2015. The startup’s advisory board is led by David Axelrod, known for being the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, and Mike Murphy, a political consultant who has advised politicians like John McCain and Jeb Bush.

“Across the country there are over 500,000 local elected officials,” Niemczewski said. “We think there’s a huge opportunity to help voters choose the next half million, hold them accountable, and make democracy work the way it should.”

article: https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...rm-nationwide/

[Justin_Chicago]

Logistics software maker Project 44 raises $35 million

Logistics software companies continue to be one of the hottest sectors of Chicago's startup economy.

Project44 raised another $35 million, led by Boston-based investor OpenView. The deal comes just a couple of months after Four Kites, another Chicago-based logistics software company, raised $35 million. Last summer, ShipBob, a supply-chain services and technology company for small businesses, raised $17.5 million. "It's great to see the Chicago entrepreneurial community continuing to grow and lead in another sector," said Vic Pascucci, a veteran of the startup scene here who is managing partner of Lightbank, a venture fund launched by Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky. The fund isn't involved in any of the deals.

The company is growing fast. It now has about 80 employees, about half of them in technology roles, said McCandless. He expects to hire another 200 within about 18 months. Project44 has built an impressive customer list that includes GE Transportation, Uline, Technicolor, ABB, Steelcase, Echo Global Logistics, R.R. Donnelley, Worldwide Express, Schneider Logistics and GlobalTranz.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...tures-pritzker

[the urban politician]

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

Yeah, just read this. Sounds promising for the citys ability to get more filming business.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

OK, great for Cinespace, but I'm actually kinda pissed about this. How the hell is traffic supposed to circulate in that area now that there is no connection E/W from Ogden to 21st Street? The only N/S road between California and Western is already Washtenaw and there is a 3 block backup on Washtenaw at 21st street every day at rush hour already. Add that to the endless line of trucks servicing Lagunitas that line up along the viaduct on 19th and this neighborhood will basically be gridlocked 24/7. If they are going to do this they need to do some serious work to the side streets which also have a bunch of stupid ass anti-gangbanger dead ends including one at 18th street.

I own property in the area and can tell you that the success of the area has been great, but this is going to create some serious headaches for anyone living between 21st and Odgen and Western and California. I had to lay on the horn for like two blocks straight the other day to get the oafs who parked their semi trucks basically in the middle of 19th street to move it. I usually don't take 19th (which is a two way road that the semis reduce to like a .85 way road) because of that and instead go in through the studio. With these closures there is literally no way to get to Washtenaw (which as I said is the only street in the area that passes under the viaduct). Where is all the traffic to Lagunitas' parking lot going to go? All the way to Douglas Park and back in from the West at 16th?? They already made Washtenaw one way a few years ago which was a total disaster that took drivers like a year to figure out since, again, it's the main connecting street in the area and was two ways forever before that.

I probably shouldn't be complaining because this is basically going to double the value of my retail space as Washtenaw becomes some sort of weird minor arterial one way street that empties all traffic from the Studio and Lagunitas, but I can't help but feel like the people who actually live there are going to suffer. I hate to say it, but they might have to rip up Washtenaw and widen it so it can become a proper two way street again. I just don't see how the area continues to function otherwise.

[the urban politician]

^ Turnin NIMBY on us?

It's the price of success!

[left of center]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

Interesting. I remember reading that Cinespace was getting shaken down by the unions and costs were increasing, driving away potential business. Hopefully that's been taken care of... Cinespace has grown to be very important for Chicago's branding. The more shows/movies are filmed here, the more awareness for the city overall. Hiring locally and bringing in Hollywood dollars to the south side is a major benefit as well.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by left of center

Interesting. I remember reading that Cinespace was getting shaken down by the unions and costs were increasing, driving away potential business. Hopefully that's been taken care of... Cinespace has grown to be very important for Chicago's branding. The more shows/movies are filmed here, the more awareness for the city overall. Hiring locally and bringing in Hollywood dollars to the south side is a major benefit as well.

It's cool to see the filming industry make a return to Chicago. I think the studios were mostly on the far north side? Edgewater/Andersonville area?



The 0.3%: Million-dollar earners in Illinois

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...rs-in-illinois

Wonder why Ohio was left out.

[marothisu]

^ On par with Texas and Florida, and above Pennsylvania - not bad.

[the urban politician]

^ So despite our population decrease we have the most number of million dollar earners than ever.

Watch all the boomsayer bloggers and journalists like--NEVER--pick up on this little factoid.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ So despite our population decrease we have the most number of million dollar earners than ever.

Watch all the boomsayer bloggers and journalists like--NEVER--pick up on this little factoid.

Of course not, or the fact that Chicago gained the most 6+ figure earners of any city except for LA and NYC since 2010 despite being hugely out gained in population in that period by nearly every city in the country THe percent change was also higher than Los Angeles.

Journalism today mostly sucks. Chicago Tribune had a story yesterday or today about "Why is Chicago violent crime in decline?" which highlights the fact that shootings are down 32% compared to last year and homicides are down 26% compared to last year. This is great especially given a trend, but they did not talk about any other violent crime. Assaults so far this year are actually up compared to the same period in 2016 and 2017, though definitely down compared to 2010. Robberies are down. Point is - they didn't talk about anything other than shootings and homicide as if those are the only types of crime that are categorized as violent crime. This is just lazy.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Of course not, or the fact that Chicago gained the most 6+ figure earners of any city except for LA and NYC since 2010 despite being hugely out gained in population in that period by nearly every city in the country THe percent change was also higher than Los Angeles.
.

I don’t remember seeing this data. You got a source for this?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

OK, great for Cinespace, but I'm actually kinda pissed about this. How the hell is traffic supposed to circulate in that area now that there is no connection E/W from Ogden to 21st Street? The only N/S road between California and Western is already Washtenaw and there is a 3 block backup on Washtenaw at 21st street every day at rush hour already. Add that to the endless line of trucks servicing Lagunitas that line up along the viaduct on 19th and this neighborhood will basically be gridlocked 24/7. If they are going to do this they need to do some serious work to the side streets which also have a bunch of stupid ass anti-gangbanger dead ends including one at 18th street.

I own property in the area and can tell you that the success of the area has been great, but this is going to create some serious headaches for anyone living between 21st and Odgen and Western and California. I had to lay on the horn for like two blocks straight the other day to get the oafs who parked their semi trucks basically in the middle of 19th street to move it. I usually don't take 19th (which is a two way road that the semis reduce to like a .85 way road) because of that and instead go in through the studio. With these closures there is literally no way to get to Washtenaw (which as I said is the only street in the area that passes under the viaduct). Where is all the traffic to Lagunitas' parking lot going to go? All the way to Douglas Park and back in from the West at 16th?? They already made Washtenaw one way a few years ago which was a total disaster that took drivers like a year to figure out since, again, it's the main connecting street in the area and was two ways forever before that.

I probably shouldn't be complaining because this is basically going to double the value of my retail space as Washtenaw becomes some sort of weird minor arterial one way street that empties all traffic from the Studio and Lagunitas, but I can't help but feel like the people who actually live there are going to suffer. I hate to say it, but they might have to rip up Washtenaw and widen it so it can become a proper two way street again. I just don't see how the area continues to function otherwise.

If traffic gets too nightmarish, just open up some of the cul-de-sacs and put in a few parking bans. 19th wouldn't even be that bad if idiots didn't park along the north side of that street... they're just asking to get whomped by a passing semi. From curb to viaduct there's like 30' of asphalt, which is almost enough for two interstate-width traffic lanes. Maybe put in a traffic signal at 19th/California.

Really should have had Cinespace commit to some of these improvements, right now all they have to do is beef up some turn lanes...