Each December, as the year comes to a close, Chicago Inno takes a look ahead with our Startups to Watch list, a collection of early-stage startups poised for growth in the years to come.
We've compiled this list each year since 2014, with the goal of highlighting up-and-coming startups that have shown early signs of promise and the potential to make a big impact. Past Startups to Watch include Tock (acquired by Squarespace) in 2016, unicorns like Tempus and M1 Finance in 2017, breakout consumer startup Cameo in 2019, and Nature's Fynd, The Mom Project and Fyllo in 2020, three startups that have since gone on to raise large rounds after fast growth.
This year's list features startups across a broad variety of industries — from quantum computing to mental health, food delivery to sports betting, cybersecurity to frozen waffles. Our 22 Startups to Watch in 2022 are tackling the future of work, crypto investing, alternative seafood, online shopping and alpaca wool socks.
Like Chicago's broader business environment, the city's startup scene isn't dominated by one industry or vertical. On our list you'll find consumer companies, B2B software providers, health-care platforms and tools for investing in your child's future. The companies featured here, generally speaking, have raised a Series A round of funding or smaller and have been founded within the last three years. To help us compile this year’s Startups to Watch list, we reached out to Chicago venture capitalists, founders and other tech leaders to help shape the list, and we also used information from our reporting throughout the year. (New to Chicago Inno? You can follow our work by subscribing to the Chicago Inno Beat, our daily email newsletter on all things Chicago tech.)
Dive into our 22 Startups to Watch in 2022 below.
Alkeme wants to be the "Peloton for Black mental health." Founded by former Chicago Bears safety Ryan Mundy, Alkeme's platform connects people with professionals in psychology, mindfulness and wellness, focusing specifically on the Black community. With both live-streamed and on-demand content, the startup offers a subscription service featuring mental health courses around issues like systemic racism, anxiety and microaggressions. Founded out of Mundy's own struggles after his career in the NFL, Alkeme has raised $4.6 million from Forerunner Ventures, M25, KB Partners and Relativity CEO Mike Gamson.
Founded by husband-and-wife duo Fred and Perteet Spencer, Ayo Foods creates a line of West African cuisine that shoppers can find in their grocery freezer. Launched during the summer of 2020, Ayo's dishes are in 4,000 stores across the country at places like Whole Foods, Target, Kroger and Safeway. Its revenue has grown 850% this year, and it expects to do more than $5 million in sales in 2022 as it launches in more stores. The company raised a $1.5 million seed round this year from Cleveland Avenue, a Chicago VC firm led by former McDonald's CEO Don Thompson.
Founded in 2020 by Anne Palermo and Brittany Chibe, Aqua Cultured Foods is using microbial fermentation to create "seafood" from fungi. The startup's process allows it to create foods that have the texture of traditional seafood with the ability to create flavors that mimic the dishes consumers know and love. Aqua is starting with fried calamari and popcorn shrimp, which expect to hit grocery shelves and restaurant kitchens in 2022 — with plans to eventually launch the world’s first whole-muscle seafood alternatives. Future products could include tuna, whitefish and scallop alternatives. The startup raised $2.1 million this year from Supply Change Capital, Hyde Park Angels and others.
Betsperts has created a sports betting research tool that helps gamblers follow the picks of successful bettors. In May, it acquired Fantasy Life App, a tool created by ESPN personality Matthew Berry, as it expands beyond gambling and into fantasy sports. Betsperts also raised $6 million in funding this year from NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Chris Paul. Betsperts' app tracks and ranks gamblers based on their betting history, helping users know whom to follow if they want advice on their next bet.
Clinify Health wants to bring better care to low-income communities, starting on Chicago's South and West sides. The startup works with clinics in underserved communities by helping them transition to value-based care, a payment model in the health-care industry that incentivizes physicians and medical groups by providing them reimbursements based on health outcomes. Led by CEO Nathan Pelzer, a former senior leader at VillageMD, Clinify raised $3.1 million in a seed round this year.
The Cumin Club brings authentic Indian cuisine straight to your door. Founded in 2019, the company's Indian meal-kit subscription service went nationwide this year. Drawn from authentic regional Indian cuisines, the startup's meals can be made in five minutes and cost $5 each. The company, which also opened a virtual kitchen in Chicago this year, said it has increased customers 10X and increased revenue 15X in 2021. It raised a seed round of funding from Chicago's Listen Ventures and M25.
Led by Christine Izuakor, a 10-year veteran of United Airlines who led various cybersecurity initiatives for the Chicago-based carrier, Cyber Pop-up wants to help businesses of all sizes with their cybersecurity. The startup connects small- and medium-sized businesses with cybersecurity experts on demand, allowing companies to have access to its network of vetted security pros who can answer questions and provide support as needed. Cyber Pop-up recently won two $100,000 pitch competitions — at the Atlanta Startup Battle in October and Chicago's TechRise competition in December. The startup also received a grant from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.
EarlyBird wants to help families set their children up for financial success. Founded in 2020, the company allows parents to create custodial investment accounts for their children so that family and friends in turn can easily contribute financial gifts to the accounts on birthdays, holidays and other occasions. Led by founders Caleb Frankel and Jordan Wexler, the startup raised $4 million this year from several big names, including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six fund and Gemini's Frontier Fund, the venture arm of Gemini, the crypto firm owned by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
Evergreen Waffles has created a healthier alternative to traditional frozen waffles. The startup's waffles are made with 100% whole grain flour, almond milk instead of dairy, sweetened with honey instead of refined sugar, and flavored with fruits, vegetables, nuts and spices. Founded by Emily Groden, who previously worked as the general counsel at famed three-star Michelin restaurant Alinea, Evergreen has grown its revenue 6X in 2021 compared to last year and is in 10 times as many stores. Its waffles can be found at Whole Foods, Foxtrot, Sunset Foods and other independent retailers.
Founded in 2019 by CEO Brian Mandelbaum, Klover offers interest-free loans in exchange for data on your spending history. Instead of the traditional interest required by a loan provider, the startup asks for access to your bank transactions and serves you ads from brands based on how you spend. It works with brands like Wayfair, DoorDash and GoodRx, serving users ads based on their financial habits. The startup raised a $60 million Series A round in August from Mercato Partners Traverse Fund and Chicago-based Lightbank, Starting Line and Motivate Ventures. At the time, Klover said it has grown to more than 1.5 million users in just two years.
MVMNT, founded in 2020, is a logistics startup that allows shippers to manage their shipment lifecycle in one place. Companies can handle procurement, manage payments, source bids, track shipments and more from one platform. Led by CEO Michael Colin, a former executive at Circle Logistics, MVMNT is the latest promising logistics startups in Chicago, which has produced firms like project44, FourKites and Forager. MVMNT's customers include Pfizer, Schneider, Kraft and YRC.
New Era ADR is helping businesses settle legal disputes completely online. Its platform allows arbitrations and mediations to take place virtually, eliminating courtroom hearings, expensive travel costs and potentially years of litigation. Founded by Collin Williams, a former general counsel at Reverb, and Rich Lee, the ex-general counsel at Civis Analytics, New Era ADR wants to help companies and law firms rethink the way disputes are settled. It raised $1.6 million in funding this year from Reverb founder David Kalt, Chicago entrepreneur Pete Kadens and Trunk Club co-founder Kevin Price, among others.
Founded by brothers Justin and Christian Arquilla, Pacas makes socks, pillows, hats, scarves and other items out of alpaca wool. Its products are hypoallergenic, moisture wicking and warmer than sheep's wool, the company says. It's also considered a more environmentally friendly wool, as alpacas eat less grass and need less replenishing than goats, sheep and cows. Seeded by a lineup of investors that includes Corazon Capital, Spiral Sun Ventures and Sandalphon Capital, the startup says its products are as soft as cashmere at a more affordable price point.
PechaKucha provides a virtual storytelling platform, allowing users to produce and share content online, host live virtual events, and build digital communities around specific topics. The genesis of the company came in 2003 in Japan, with a tool to help creators make presentations that consisted of 20 image-based slides, each automatically advancing every 20 seconds. Since then, the company — based in Toyko and Chicago — has pivoted and been reimagined as a social media app. It's led by CEO Sean Smyth, an early Groupon employee, and raised $2.7 million this year from Japanese billionaire Muneaki Masuda, Groupon and Uptake co-founder Brad Keywell, Ocient co-founder Chris Gladwin, and Jimmy Chamberlin, the drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins.
Prisidio has created a secure online vault that consumers can use to store important documents. The private, cloud-based vault is designed to hold personal documents such as wills, trusts, legal agreements, health records and more. The startup is led by Glenn Shimkus and Paul Koziarz, the founders of Cartavi, a real estate document management software company that was acquired by DocuSign in 2013. Prisidio has raised a total of $6.85 million in seed funding in 2021, and it plans to launch a public beta of its product in early 2022.
Science on Call offers tech support for restaurants. Founded in June 2020 to help restaurants struggling with technology in the height of the pandemic, the startup offers a 24/7 subscription-based help desk service for family-owned and local restaurants. It offers support for points-of-sale, internet issues, online ordering and other issues via text message or phone call. Led by founders Andy Freivogel, Luisa Castellanos and Ken Tsang, Science on Call's investors include Lofty Ventures and LongJump, a Chicago fund that backs underrepresented founders. The startup also was selected to this year's Techstars Farm to Fork accelerator in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Shopflix is a 24/7 video streaming network where brands can tell their stories and where shoppers can see high-quality demos of products they want to buy. Led by Protein Bar founder Matt Matros and early Trunk Club employee Lindsey Kilbride, the startup aims to be the QVC for online shopping. It creates video content for brands in house, and its segments are hosted by online influencers. It raised seed funding this year from Chicago Ventures, Chingona Ventures, Network Venture and others.
Sifter is a grocery shopping platform that lets you search for products based on your diet and medical needs. Led by brothers Andrew and Thomas Parkinson, the founders of grocery delivery pioneer Peapod, Sifter lets users set up a profile and identify their specific allergies, dietary restrictions, medical history and other factors. They can search Sifter's platform for food items that are safe to consume and fit their lifestyle, or drop in a link from any recipe online, and Sifter will tell you if the ingredients are safe and where to buy the products online. It raised $4.6 million in seed funding this year from Valor Equity Partners and Hyde Park Angels.
Spot wants to keep you untethered from your computer during work calls, allowing you to take walking meetings with its audio-only app. Led by Remote Year founder Greg Caplan, the company lets users put on their headphones and put their phones in their pocket. Spot records the call and uses a virtual assistant to take notes. Users can say "Spot, fetch" (or press a button on the screen), and Spot will automatically transcribe the last 40 seconds of the call. Attendees can share meeting highlights and follow-up notes with others after the call. The company raised nearly $7 million this year from Silicon Valley VC firm Kleiner Perkins, Chapter One and Starting Line.
Stacked is a crypto investment platform that creates automated investing tools for passive investors. Serving as a robo-adviser for crypto and digital assets, investors can buy pre-built portfolios, and the company allows users to manage portfolios across different exchanges. Stacked says it has automated more than $10 billion in total transactions and has more than $150 million in assets. The startup raised a $35 million Series A round this year. Its investors include Alameda Research, Mirana Ventures, Fidelity's VC arm, Jump Capital, Starting Line and others.
Stigma is a mental health app that lets people send messages of support to others who share their struggles. Its mission is to reduce loneliness and normalize conversations about mental health by offering people safe spaces to share their stories. Led by Ariana Gibson, who previously held leadership roles at GiveForward, Clearcover and TransUnion, the startup says it's "crowdsourcing hope" through storytelling. It was one of the first startups to receive an investment from LongJump, a new Chicago fund led by startup founders that backs underrepresented entrepreneurs in Chicago.
Super.tech is developing software that makes quantum computing faster and more efficient. Launched last year by University of Chicago Ph.D. Pranav Gokhale and UChicago computer science professor Fred Chong, Super.tech is building some of the foundational software for quantum computing. Its software platform is designed to connect quantum developers' applications to any quantum computer, whether it's from IBM, Google or Rigetti. The startup's aim is to help companies get their quantum programs running faster and get better performance out of their quantum computing hardware. The company is part of Duality, the first startup accelerator program in the country that's dedicated solely to quantum computing. Early Super.tech users include Morningstar, the Chicago financial firm that uses the startup's tech to optimize a client's portfolio faster and more efficiently.
