CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[Steely Dan]

So in trying to move some of the off topic posts in the old chicago economic thread to a different thread, something went horribly awry with my computer and the whole damn thread apparently disappeared into the ether, nowhere to be found

I have no idea what really happened or if the old thread is gone forever or not (currently looking into it), but in the meantime here's a new thread to discuss all things economy and business related to chicago.

[Vlajos]

Oh no!

[Justin_Chicago]

I feel defeated from losing all those announcements. It was nice to show a shining light on Chicago's economy despite what people read in the news.

Anyways...

InContext Solutions raises $15 million for virtual reality simulations

InContext Solutions, a Chicago-based virtual reality software company, has raised about $15 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The six-year-old company creates virtual reality simulations for retailers and manufacturers. Its website lists clients including Walmart, Walgreens and Pepsico.

Investors in the round were not listed in the filing. This investment brings InContext Solutions' total funding to more than $42 million. Earlier this year, the company raised nearly $5 million in debt, according to Crunchbase.

Article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesk...921-story.html

[HowardL]

Not directly a big, wow business article but I think this shows the perhaps unique difference between Chicago style finance and elsewhere.

I never realized until this article the role that clearing played in the rise of women in derivatives.

It's a great story. Proud that Chicago is central to this diverse, balanced story.

The futures industry's surprisingly good record of promoting women. Exhibit A: CME Group's Kim Taylor.

Kim Taylor is one of the highest-ranking women in Chicago finance, a realm so monopolized by men that a female face in the C-suite still stands out. When she fields what she calls the ultimate chick question—”How did you succeed in a male-dominated industry?”—the CME Group president points to the women who came before her.

PS. She's cool as hell.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

I feel defeated from losing all those announcements. It was nice to show a shining light on Chicago's economy despite what people read in the news.

Yeah, that sucks, you'd think there would be a complete backup copy of this forum somewhere... Can't imagine if something like that happened to the main system. But no worries, I'm sure the current economic expansion should quickly fill this thread back up again!

Originally Posted by HowardL

Not directly a big, wow business article but I think this shows the perhaps unique difference between Chicago style finance and elsewhere.

I never realized until this article the role that clearing played in the rise of women in derivatives.

It's a great story. Proud that Chicago is central to this diverse, balanced story.

The futures industry's surprisingly good record of promoting women. Exhibit A: CME Group's Kim Taylor.


PS. She's cool as hell.

I've met a surprising number of woman traders, interesting to know that it is a "thing", not just my own anecdote.

[HowardL]

Rock on little exchange, rock on. Get bigger.

CBOE Holdings looking to buy exchange operator Bats Global

CBOE Holdings Inc. is in talks to acquire Bats Global Markets Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, just five months after the exchange operator went public in a long-awaited initial public offering.
<snip>
Buying Bats would push CBOE beyond options and related futures contracts, a niche business—albeit a profitable one for the company—compared with the areas where Bats operates. Bats is the second-biggest exchange operator in U.S. stocks, the largest in European equities and last year got into the $5.1-trillion-a-day currencies business.
<pins>

[Justin_Chicago]

European finance giant Rothschild arrives in Chicago

Rothschild, the storied European financial services firm, is opening its first office in Chicago, the company said in a statement today.

The firm, which has dual headquarters in London and Paris, will enter the city with its mergers and acquisitions advisory business, the biggest of its three global business arms.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ves-in-chicago


Former City Hall insiders Spielfogel, Goldstein launch startup fund

David Spielfogel, who was a top aide to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Brett Goldstein, a technologist who was the city's chief data officer, have raised a $15 million fund for civic-tech startups called Ekistic Ventures.

Among the investors is Michael Sacks, CEO of asset-management firm GCM Grosvenor and a confidant and financial supporter of Emanuel. Advisers include former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Tim O'Reilly, founder of computer publishing firm O'Reilly Media.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...h-startup-fund


Ex-Fieldglass CTO raises $11 million for new venture

Sean Chou, former chief technology officer of Fieldglass, has raised $11 million for his startup Catalytic.

The company, founded last year, is working on business-software platform called Pushbot. Investors include New Enterprise Associates, which has backed several successful Chicago startups, such as Groupon, Sprout Social and Raise Marketplace; Chicago Ventures; and former Fieldglass CEO Jai Shekhawat.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...or-new-venture

[emathias]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

...
I've met a surprising number of woman traders, interesting to know that it is a "thing", not just my own anecdote.

Trading is the ultimate "pay for results" environment. Even though many outsiders think of it as an old boys' club type environment, traders simply can't last if they can't perform, so while there are pockets of old boy club attitudes here and there, at the end of the day trading is very meritocratic and/or egalitarian. Before it became highly computerized it was even more egalitarian, pulling in all sorts of people from across Chicago to help run trading companies and exchanges. With the explosion of electronic trading it helps now to have a metric ton of education (especially in math), but before that if you had decent logic, decent arithmetic, and a good dollop of moxie you could make a good living in the trading industry regardless of demographic. New York finance was old boys networks because it was M&A and handshake deals. Open outcry trading, on the other hand, is all about individual performance buying low, selling high, and not who you know.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

I feel defeated from losing all those announcements. It was nice to show a shining light on Chicago's economy despite what people read in the news.

yeah, i know, it really sucks. i think it's gone for good, unfortunately.

my apologies to you specifically because you were the best and most consistent contributor to the old thread.

i don't know exactly what happened, but right in the middle of when i was trying to move some posts, my internet connection totally froze up on me. i made a few random clicks with my mouse to see if it would come back, and my only guess is that in those few random clicks i might have accidentally clicked on some "delete entire thread from all known existence" button, or something. my internet connection had locked up on me so i killed chrome and when i logged back in, the thread was completely gone. gone without a trace.

really, really bad timing on that one. i've been a moderator here at SSP for 15 years now and this is the first time i've ever accidentally hard-deleted an entire thread.

oh well, we can only go forward at this point. time to start anew.

[the urban politician]

If for nothing other than bragging rights for Chicago, the CBOE and BATS merger is good news. I'd love to see CBOE acquired by CME Group

[HowardL]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

If for nothing other than bragging rights for Chicago, the CBOE and BATS merger is good news. I'd love to see CBOE acquired by CME Group

Following the NYMEX acquisition, I felt that way too. But with CBOE flexing some muscle (finally), I dunno.

I welcome the prospect of a dual powerhouse Chicago.

[Justin_Chicago]

Lefkofsky takes on the big C

Eric Lefkofsky is bringing his genomics startup, Tempus, out of stealth mode, announcing today its first partnership, with Northwestern University's cancer center.

Several other hospital collaborations are expected to be announced soon as the chairman and former CEO of Groupon embarks on his most-ambitious venture ever—utilizing Big Data to help physicians tailor cancer treatment based on a patient's own genetic profile.

Lefkofsky, who co-founded Groupon and such other e-commerce companies as InnerWorkings and Echo Global Logistics with long-time business partner Brad Keywell, launched the health care software startup late last year. Since then, he quietly has built a company with a headcount approaching 100, heavy on Ph.D.s and data scientists, and a 20,000-square-foot genomics lab in the River North building that houses Groupon and Lightbank, the partners' venture fund.

Lefkofsky scored a coup earlier this year when he hired Kevin White, a top genetics researcher at University of Chicago, as Tempus' president.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...-northwesterns

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ That's exactly what is driving the scorching development of Chicago's central core. When you have a company grow to 100 employees completely under the radar hiring largely computer scientists and PHD's, you are going to see real growth in all sectors of the economy in that area. These types of employees not only fulfill the typical economic role of perpetuating growth through the demand the create, but they generate a special kind of demand. As highly educated, well paid, individuals they are not just going to create demand more more Starbucks or WalMart Expresses, they are likely going to demand a diverse array of services and goods ranging from staples like Target or Starbucks to cultural output (art, syphony, music fest, etc) to "craft" economy output like microbreweries or mixology bars.

The little "renisassance" happening in America's urban cores continues to amaze, and companies like this are just more fuel on the bonfire which is already being stoked by the big logs like McDonalds or ConAgra.

[the urban politician]

^ They are also creating a rebound effect of resentment by blue collar and lower income folk who used to think Chicago belonged to them. They say things like "The city was fine the way it was!"

I never really saw much of blue collar Chicago, but it must have been a nice place at its zenith (1950's and 60's)

[Via Chicago]

ive dealt with Lefkofsky and worked for one of his companies pre Groupon (and saw the inner workings of 2-3 others), and the business practices were always pump and dump/straight up shady. plenty of supporting documents out there if you care to do the research. also funny that the press release for the cancer data company almost identically mirrors that for all the other industries hes "disrupted"...expect i know what the back end looked like and its capabilities were never even remotely close to what it was sold as to clients. actually a complete joke. quite interesting sales meetings to say the least and outright lying to clients was common. "software cant do what we say it does? just show them some powerpoints with screenshots and walk them through that instead so we dont have to do a live demo." also plenty of strong arm tactics against vendors who were supposed to be "partners" in an effort to drive costs. ironically the partners were the only ones actually producing a tangible thing of value in this entire exchange but the fact he was putting small mom and pop business out of work couldnt have mattered less...to the point that they were forced into borderline bribery to do business with us. calling it a "tech" company was a joke, but sure it was enough for Mayor Daley to think it was a big thing, who happened to tour the 600 West office to see what the "new economy" was all about.

the fact hes become the celebrated poster boy for Chicago entrepreneurship is disconcerting. then again i suppose it fits perfectly with the hucksterism of our late stage capitalism. i suggest checking your wrist if you ever happen to shake his hand to make sure your watch is still there after the exchange.

[emathias]

Thought some of you might be interested in this report about Airbnb in the Midwest:

https://www.scribd.com/document/3220...Midwest-growth

[IrishIllini]

Did Foxconn provide a timeline for when the plant would open?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Did Foxconn provide a timeline for when the plant would open?

Some time between now and never

[Halsted & Villagio]

This is where Lightfoot pleasantly surprises me. When she was first elected it was generally perceived that she would be good for addressing long neglected neighborhood issues within the city, but what many did not know (myself included) is that she would be good for the overall economy and growth of downtown. She has been literally rolling her sleeves up and digging in to help grow and develop downtown. Its great to see........

Originally posted by Randomguy34:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg...aling-downtown

Lightfoot reveals vision for healing downtown
Quote:
The city's plan calls for closing parts of major streets for entertainment, filling vacant storefronts and boosting big developments, all to help the city spark a post-COVID rebound.

The Lightfoot administration is proposing to close portions of three of the city’s major thoroughfares on occasion this summer—North Michigan Avenue, State Street and LaSalle Street—as part of a newly detailed plan to help downtown bounce back from the pandemic.

The city is also pledging to help developers of large projects such as the 78 and the former Michael Reese hospital site lure anchor tenants; backing plans for pop-up stores and other creative ways to temporarily fill vacant retail storefronts; and pondering a new way to let business groups establish and promote themselves by leveling a tax on their members. Read a report on the plan below.
....
Mayekar said Lightfoot personally has been meeting with developers, real estate investors and others in hopes of jump-starting large developments, including the Lincoln Yards project. A recent boom in development of biomedical lab space there and more prominently in the Fulton Market area is partially the result of such sessions, and more may be on the way, he said.

[Justin_Chicago]

Home Chef raises $40 million for meal-kit delivery service

Home Chef, a Chicago-based meal-kit delivery service, has whipped up $40 million in Series B funding.

The company, founded by Pat Vihtelic in September 2013, provides ingredients and instructions for meals like Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatball Sliders or Thai Red Curry Chicken for $9.95 a serving. Customers subscribe to deliveries and can choose how many they’re cooking for and flag any dietary preferences, then Home Chef delivers ingredients once a week.

Article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesk...929-story.html