CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by clark wellington

I'm all for continuing these updates. Maybe a nail salon expansion is less interesting, but I'd be very curious about things coming out of the Polsky Center (particularly things winning their top prize) given the potential to drive growth in Chicago's startup scene. Pretty easy to breeze past an update less critical to you, and lord knows we have enough wasted space talking about other random topics (looking at you, pages-long discussion on how to better market the city...)

Yep. Success starts in many different forms. Facebook was started after Mark Zuckerberg was pissed and drunk in his dorm room, and then when they moved out West it was still small. HP and Apple were both started in a garage and especially Apple, nobody took them seriously except a hobby group they would take their stuff to. Who cares the form? These types of things may not be big right now, but there's no telling if they could become so one day. It's still good to hear about these things no matter what. Sure, not every little one but some of the ones that could become bigger one day, yes. Even a nail salon, which to us men sounds pretty much non-news until you realize just how many nail salons there actually are not only in Chicago but every major city. They're all over the damn place.

[the urban politician]

^ I get the “cast as wide a net as possible” concept, but I mean, we can all judge for ourselves what’s actually newsworthy and what isn’t. My discussion about marketing the city better to tourists lasted a few pages and brought in multiple participants.

The nail salon topic didn’t (why would it?). That kind of speaks for itself. Anyhow, carry on—no big deal.

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I get the “cast as wide a net as possible” concept, but I mean, we can all judge for ourselves what’s actually newsworthy and what isn’t. My discussion about marketing the city better to tourists lasted a few pages and brought in multiple participants.

The nail salon topic didn’t (why would it?). That kind of speaks for itself. Anyhow, carry on—no big deal.

Just to be clear, Ezza Nails isn’t just a typical nail salon opening. They are a local, venture-backed startup. They came out of Booth (New Venture Challenge 2917) and have raised $1.5 million. Think of them more like SoulCycle than a typical nail salon.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300838350.html

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by moorhosj

Just to be clear, Ezza Nails isn’t just a typical nail salon opening. They are a local, venture-backed startup. They came out of Booth (New Venture Challenge 2917) and have raised $1.5 million. Think of them more like SoulCycle than a typical nail salon.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300838350.html

Yes, and they won the U of Chicago New Venture Challenge a few years ago. Thought a link was posted, but I could see how someone thought it was just a normal nail salon opening. Not sure why anybody would post that on here if it was a normal nail salon - there's at least 1 new nail salon that opens in the city every week.

[sixo1]

Okay, I will only post which companies have won the top prize at the Polsky Exchange.

[marothisu]

RedBox Co-Founder’s Fintech Startup Raises $12M

https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...up-raises-12m/

Chicago-based fintech company Halo Investing just raised a new round of funding to help it expand its international footprint.

The startup raised $12 million in a Series B round that included Allianz Life Ventures and William Blair Circle. Halo has now raised more than $15 million since launching in 2015, according to Crunchbase. The startup raised a $4 million Series A round in 2017.

Halo says the new funding will help the startup offer its service in more countries. It currently does business in the U.S., Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

The Halo platform provides structured note investments to the average investor. Halo says it can ensure transparency, competition and price efficiency to all investors. Its clients include investment advisors, brokers, dealers and private banks.

The company was co-founded by CEO Biju Kulathakal, a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of Redbox. Kulathakal, an Illinois Institute of Technology alum, is also a venture partner at OCA Venture Partners.

--
B2B SaaS Company BigTime Software Raises $14M

https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...re-raises-14m/

Chicago tech company BigTime Software has raised a new round of funding as it grows its B2B billing software business.

BigTime Software announced Thursday that it raised $14 million in a round led by Boston-based private equity firm Wavecrest Growth Partners, with participation from MassMutual Ventures and Migration Capital.

The tech company, which has offices in the Loop, has now raised more than $17 million to date. In 2011, BigTime raised a $2.7 million Series A round from investors, such as Runa Capital and LTC Partners, according to Crunchbase.

Founded in 2002 by University of Chicago alum Brian Saunders, BigTime Software provides its more than 2,000 clients with a platform that allows them to monitor and manage their finances through budgeting, tracking and invoicing.

Saunders said in a statement that BigTime decided to raise this second round of venture capital funding because it was struggling to keep up with the demand for its software. The new financing will be used to add to the company’s executive team, grow its sales and marketing teams, and further develop its software.

[animositisomina]

ARMY AD MACHINE moving to Chicago

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...-will-it-work/

A May 30 memo by Secretary of the Army Mark Esper announced the move, which comes after the service awarded a $4 billion contract to DDB Chicago, a full-service ad agency in the city.

The company will be responsible for a range of initiatives intended to build brand perception and drive leads for marketing and recruiting needs led by the Army Marketing and Research Group.

The contract was a big win for the city, with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hailing it as a “tremendous achievement that brings billions of dollars of investment to Chicago and will support hundreds of good-paying jobs.”

Beginning in August, the Army will start looking at the transition plan, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Emmanuel Ortiz-Cruz told Army Times. That process involves selecting a new building space and moving “under 50” personnel throughout the fall and winter, he said.

“In 2020, beginning next year, that’s when they’re going to be fully operational,” he said. “You have the talent there and you have the new contract with DDB, which it will be co-located near."

[bnk]

Originally Posted by animositisomina

ARMY AD MACHINE moving to Chicago

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...-will-it-work/

That's a big contract


the service awarded a $4 billion contract to DDB Chicago, a full-service ad agency in the city.

[the urban politician]

From Bisnow:

Chicago-based design firm Wight & Co. completed the new headquarters for Legacy.com, an online publisher of life memorials and end-of-life resources. The 18K SF space at 230 West Monroe St. in Chicago’s Loop consolidates 100 of Legacy’s employees from two different suburban locations. The Wight design team was led by Janet Lougée, and provided a variety of workspace options, including open desks and common areas along the perimeter of the office with smaller meeting rooms and private phone booths at its center.

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/...medium=Browser

[HowardL]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

From Bisnow:

Chicago-based design firm Wight & Co. completed the new headquarters for Legacy.com, an online publisher of life memorials and end-of-life resources. The 18K SF space at 230 West Monroe St. in Chicago’s Loop consolidates 100 of Legacy’s employees from two different suburban locations. The Wight design team was led by Janet Lougée, and provided a variety of workspace options, including open desks and common areas along the perimeter of the office with smaller meeting rooms and private phone booths at its center.

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/...medium=Browser

That's the right direction. Suburbs are fine for living and fine for services but major employment needs to be centrally located so that it can draw employees from the entire region. By public transit. Into the center.

All of it.

[marothisu]

A little something about another company at the end..

GreatPoint Ventures leads $23 million investment in Spring Labs

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/john...nt-spring-labs

Spring Labs, a blockchain company that spun out of Avant, has raised another $23 million.

The idea was to create a platform for lenders and other financial services companies to share information securely and in real time to prevent borrowers from loan stacking—or borrowing from multiple lenders, especially online companies like Avant—before the lenders realize it.

The goal is to build a similar system to what credit reporting bureaus offer, but one that’s less expensive and more secure, which is where blockchain comes in. For now, it’s still unproven at the scale needed by big lenders, but the idea has gotten a lot of interest.

..

John Sun, one of Spring Labs’ co-founders, says the first version of the product will launch with early partners in the coming weeks. He said the company has signed up 25 partners, including Avant, GM Financial, SoFi and OnDeck Capital.

..

The company is based in Los Angeles, though Sun, who was a co-founder of Chicago-based Avant, says many members of the team split time between the two cities. He expects to add staff in Chicago as the company grows from 35 to 50 by year-end.

..

Meanwhile, another California-based startup with Chicago ties raised a large funding round, which will result in more tech jobs here.

SpotOn, a San Francisco-based company that sells software to small and mid-sized retailers, raised $40 million.

The company’s technology team is mostly based in Chicago, where it employs about 35 and plans to double headcount with the new funding, says co-founder Doron Friedman. “Our corporate office is in San Francisco but our tech office is in Chicago."

[marothisu]

A think tank in NYC released a report the other day on the growth of startups in various cities in the US from 2008 to 2018. Following is some data from that:

https://nycfuture.org/research/start...across-the-u.s

Change in startups 2008 vs. 2018:
1. NYC: +9878 startups
2. San Francisco: +7791 startups
3. Los Angeles: +5245 startups
4. Chicago: +2451 startups
5. Austin: +1670 startups
6. Seattle: +1570 startups
7. San Diego: +1261 startups
8. Atlanta: +1174 startups
9. Washington DC: +943 startups
10. Denver: +930
11. Dallas: +893 startups
12. Houston: +842 startups
13. Philadelphia: +563 startups
14. San Antonio: +180 startups

The greater Boston area added 2826 startups (this includes all startups) while Brooklyn alone added 941 startups. The entire Bay Area added 15,048 startups.

For Chicago this averages out to over 200 new startups per year.

Percent change wise it's like this:
1. San Francisco: +421%
2. NYC: +308%
3. Philadelphia: +290% (had less than 200 startups in 2008 though)
4. Los Angeles: +279%
5. Chicago: +270%
6. Washington DC: +235%
7. Seattle: +225%
8. Denver: +224%
9. Dallas: +223%
10. Austin: +221%
11. Atlanta: +186%
12. San Diego: +180%
13. San Antonio: +155%
14. Houston: +149%

Chicago is top 5 here. Philadelphia started with less than 200 startups so to me, LA and Chicago are more impressive in their percentages here. Chicago and Los Angeles have similar growth rates, so that's a good thing at least that they aren't so different in percent change.

In terms of just overall startups in 2018:
1. NYC: 13,089 startups
2. San Francisco: 9642 startups
3. Los Angeles: 7125 startups
4. Chicago: 3359 startups
5. Austin: 2426 startups
6. Seattle: 2269 startups
7. San Diego: 1963 startups
8. Atlanta: 1804 startups
9. Houston: 1409 startups
10. Denver: 1345 startups
11. Washington DC: 1344 startups
12. Dallas: 1293 startups
13. Philadelphia: 757 startups
14. San Antonio: 296 startups

Greater Boston (with suburbs) is at 4111 startups while Brooklyn is at 1205 startups. Chicago is top 5 here

[the urban politician]

A SF based startup that moved to Chicago and is rapidly hiring:

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2019/...uarters-growth

An Evanston company that moved downtown:

https://www.rejournals.com/nkf-repre...icago-20190611

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

A SF based startup that moved to Chicago and is rapidly hiring:

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2019/...uarters-growth

An Evanston company that moved downtown:

https://www.rejournals.com/nkf-repre...icago-20190611

The SF company moving is a good story and also has been happening quite a bit as we know. One thing I've noticed in this story and some others like it is the people in charge are from the Midwest originally. I'm not sure that some people understand just how many people from the Midwest actually make up the tech scene in the Bay Area, but it's a good amount. As the Bay Area becomes more expensive and companies look to either move from it or make their expansions elsewhere (definitely already happening), Chicago will be more and more attractive to some of those people especially. Obviously this has happened already but I think as long as the tech scene grows in Chicago, more and more companies will take Chicago seriously in their needs for this.

It reminds me of, a little..

Why Alphabet’s Cybersecurity Spin-Out Picked Chicago to Grow Its Engineering Team

https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...ineering-team/

A cybersecurity startup born out of Alphabet’s moonshot factory has picked Chicago to grow its engineering operations, and expects its Windy City outpost to be its largest office outside of Silicon Valley.

Chronicle announced last month that it’s opening a Chicago office inside Google’s Fulton Market building. The office is led by James Megquier, a Chicago native who has spent over a decade in various software engineering roles at Google. Will Robinson, the former head of Google Chicago, is Chronicle’s CTO.

..

Chronicle chose Chicago for three main reasons, Megquier said in an interview: access to talent, a growing tech scene, and proximity to major corporations that have cybersecurity needs.

“We’ve got a great tech scene here in Chicago,” Megquier said. “Silicon Valley is really saturated at this point with its talent. In Chicago, things are just growing and growing.”

Megquier declined to say how many people Chronicle’s Chicago office plans to hold, but he described the company as a “rapidly growing startup” that’s looking to hire across a range of engineering roles.

“We see cybersecurity as the computer science problem of a generation,” he said. “This is a problem that’s unsolved … We believe we can bring a really unique perspective and value (to the industry) and are interested in solving it.”

[IrishIllini]

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-cisco-systems

[the urban politician]

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2019...re-in-chicago/

[the urban politician]

The West Loop/Fulton Market district just keeps racking um up:

June 17, 2019
Ernst & Young setting up shop in Fulton Market
The firm's lease for an innovation center showcases the increasingly diverse roster of office tenants in the neighborhood.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-fulton-market

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

The West Loop/Fulton Market district just keeps racking um up:



https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-fulton-market

Nice. For some reason I thought Gr333n was being completely taken up by WPP. Maybe not, but still cool to see. 40,000 square feet should be probably 300-400 workers, so that's pretty good.

I wonder how much more of this stuff being SB will start construction on the next tower in that development.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Nice. For some reason I thought Gr333n was being completely taken up by WPP. Maybe not, but still cool to see. 40,000 square feet should be probably 300-400 workers, so that's pretty good.

I wonder how much more of this stuff being SB will start construction on the next tower in that development.

I think WPP took over half and there are a couple other tenants who have signed up. Should be close to about 3/4ths full already which is enough for SB to start on another building assuming they think there is room right now in the market with Thor getting started next door.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by k1052

I think WPP took over half and there are a couple other tenants who have signed up. Should be close to about 3/4ths full already which is enough for SB to start on another building assuming they think there is room right now in the market with Thor getting started next door.

Sterling Bay is saying Gr333n is 80% leased right now. I'd say that's a vote in favor of starting the next one...