CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development - Page 93

the urban politician · #**1841** Posted **Jul 24, 2018, 4:10 PM**

^ This thread, actually, about 2 months ago?

marothisu · #**1842** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 12:33 AM**

LogicGate Raises $7.5 Million to Accelerate Risk and Compliance Automation

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300685058.html

Quote:

LogicGate, a workflow automation software platform for governance, risk, and compliance, has raised $7.5 million in a Series A round led by Jump Capital, with participation from High Alpha and existing investors.

Quote:

With this investment, LogicGate's total funding reaches $9.4 million since its launch in 2015 by co-founders Matt Kunkel, Jon Siegler, and Dan Campbell. The additional capital will be used to bolster the LogicGate team, adding 50 new positions to their Chicago office by 2019 across several functional areas: Engineering, Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success.

More tidbits from another source:
https://www.builtinchicago.org/2018/...series-funding

Quote:

According to Kunkel, LogicGate had about five customers in January 2017. Today it has over 55, including a handful of Fortune 50 companies.

To sustain and increase that growth, LogicGate will grow its team. The company has a current headcount of 24.

“We’ll probably be between 40 and 50 by the end of the year, and will be between 75 and 80 people by the end of 2019,” said Kunkel. “We’re growing our engineering, sales, product, customer success and content teams, as well as filling some leadership positions.”

FYI their office is in River North.

bnk · #**1843** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 11:30 AM**

https://pitchbook.com/newsletter/why...g-into-chicago

Why VC keeps flowing into Chicago
July 25, 2018

Capital is increasingly flowing into Chicago-based startups, particularly from investors headquartered outside of Illinois. In 2017, Chicago startups saw 130 VC deals that were funded by at least one non-Illinois investor, for a total of $1.7 billion. Notably, nearly half of those rounds—59, to be specific—were funded entirely from outside the state.

What is piquing investors' interest in Chicago? As noted in last year's Venture Ecosystem FactBook: Chicago, developed in collaboration with local investors and firms, the Chicago startup scene enjoys key attributes that could attract outside capital: relatively cheaper living costs that contribute to lower overhead; significant talent pipelines; and closer access to the Great Lakes.

...

bnk · #**1844** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 2:47 PM**

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2018...-years-report/

Co-working space has tripled in Chicago in 4 years: report

Shared spaces now comprise nearly 2 percent of Downtown office market

By Joe Ward | July 24, 2018 01:00PM

Chicago’s co-working market has tripled in the last four years, adding some 1.8 million square feet of shared office space Downtown and on the Near North Side.

Totalling less than 800,000 square feet at the start of 2014, the city’s co-working market now has 99 locations that occupy nearly 2.6 million square feet, according to a new report by Colliers International.

Co-working space now makes up 1.8 percent of the central business district’s office space, meaning the industry’s health is now critical to the city’s office market, according to the report.

...

bnk · #**1845** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 9:14 PM**

Any legitimacy to what’s being posted here?

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...229990&page=46

marothisu · #**1846** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 9:35 PM**

Maybe. The guy claims he has physical evidence that Amazon signed a lease for around a million square feet in Atlanta and the major tenant is moving out. No matter what, if true it's huge news for Atlanta but to me it's not (from what I read) definitive proof about HQ2 itself. If true, it means that Atlanta is probably getting room for at least 4000 Amazon employees. That's big no matter how you look at it. On the flip side, it's not definitive to me because if the proof is only 1 building, then it falls in line with what Amazon has been doing lately...which is leasing out huge spaces (800,000 sq ft between NYC and Boston for example)

There could be something here, not doubting it, but it seems as if they are jumping to conclusions only about hq2 itself.

left of center · #**1847** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 9:47 PM**

Interesting. One million sq ft is a ton of space. If its not for HQ2, then its one hell of a consolation prize for Atlanta...

marothisu · #**1848** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 11:37 PM**

Now the guy says he doesn't know if it's Amazon but that it's one company. Could be anybody..

Randomguy34 · #**1849** Posted **Jul 25, 2018, 11:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

Now the guy says he doesn't know if it's Amazon but that it's one company. Could be anybody..

Atlanta3000 has been posting in the Atlanta thread for the past couple of months about how he has intel on the HQ2 bid. I haven't been taking his claims seriously

left of center · #**1850** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 12:09 AM**

Even if its not Amazon, its still a gargantuan amount of office space. They are going to be getting a very sizable tenant... or maybe the guy is making sh*t up entirely for attention?

marothisu · #**1851** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 12:41 AM**

Yeah I think he's reaching here. At&t is vacating a space and he says he has proof of a company (maybe a tech company) signing but doesn't know which one. His entire argument is predicated on the fact that Amazon told a few state government agencies in Georgia to expect an announcement on a particular day. Someone asked..won't Amazon tell that to all parties involved?

I'm not saying it's not HQ2, but this guy is jumping to conclusions which is also the sense of a few of my coworkers here in NYC when I shared it with them.

Regardless, if the space is correct then it's something big but I feel as if he's jumping to big conclusions In saying it's hq2.

He also questioned why with a few years on their lease ATT would abandon. Even after spending millions. Let me just say this...been there done that. Doesn't mean anything when you are dealing with huge companies, especially those who can afford to throw away millions on something and not bat an eyelash.

SIGSEGV · #**1852** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 12:44 AM**

I bet the Atlanta thing is related to the AT&T Time Warner deal rather than Amazon HQ2, but who knows. The poster's enthusiasm makes me skeptical of confirmation bias.

left of center · #**1853** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 1:15 AM**

He says he has literally seen the ink on a contract with the aforementioned body's name attached to it. Pretty bold claim to say that and not have said actual evidence. Interesting hole this poster may have dug for himself. Well, lets wait and see.

ardecila · #**1854** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 1:25 AM**

There's been speculation that Amazon might split up HQ2 given the crazy strong response to their RFP and the generally strong offerings of several cities. If HQ2 is basically just an enormous backoffice operation and a ploy to reduce the salaries of Amazon's soon-to-be-vast middle management by sticking them in a low-cost location, then there's no reason it can't be split up among several cities to stack multiple incentive packages together.

A partial chunk of HQ2 would be a big win for Chicago still, but it wouldn't be enough to anchor Lincoln Yards or The 78 and create a whole CBD ecosystem from scratch.

the urban politician · #**1855** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 1:25 AM**

Seen ink on the contract? Give me a break, that’s a bunch of horse manure

left of center · #**1856** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 1:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

There's been speculation that Amazon might split up HQ2 given the crazy strong response to their RFP and the generally strong offerings of several cities. If HQ2 is basically just an enormous backoffice operation and a ploy to reduce the salaries of Amazon's soon-to-be-vast middle management by sticking them in a low-cost location, then there's no reason it can't be split up among several cities to stack multiple incentive packages together.

A partial chunk of HQ2 would be a big win for Chicago still, but it wouldn't be enough to anchor Lincoln Yards or The 78 and create a whole CBD ecosystem from scratch.

I'd still be very happy with that potential outcome. Gives Chicago a better chance to get some sort of not insignificant office component from Amazon, while allowing them to also diversify and not create (and deal with the backlash of) another Seattle-esque housing crunch in any other city.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Seen ink on the contract? Give me a break, that’s a bunch of horse manure

Lets hope so.

chicubs111 · #**1857** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 1:45 AM**

Chicago definitely produced the most stunning and impressive proposals for amazon hq2 compared to the other 19 finalist.. I wouldn't be surprised if Chicago is chosen ... but not getting hopes up for sure...

marothisu · #**1858** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 1:45 AM**

Confirmation bias at its finest. But I enjoy it...

tjp · #**1859** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 2:03 PM**

Just caught wind of the Salesforce rumors, myself, through a friend in CRE. It does indeed sound like they're looking for a lot of space.

the urban politician · #**1860** Posted **Jul 26, 2018, 2:22 PM**

^ Alright!