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The Big One: Future of fintech in Chicago
World Business Chicago’s next event aims to showcase the future of finance technology.
The economic-development partner organization is hosting its first Future-of-FinTech Week next week, Sept. 23–27. Entrepreneurs and investors in the space are encouraged to register for a chance to network and further grow one of the city's strongest startup sectors.
Future-of-FinTech Week aims to build on the success of World Business Chicago's Chicago Venture Summit, with fintech and insurtech entrepreneurs from across the startup scene gathering to empower the next generation of fintech innovators.
"Small businesses and entrepreneurs are a critical driving force behind economic innovation and job creation,” said Phil Clement, president and CEO of World Business Chicago, in a statement.
Future-of-FinTech Week will include an official “startup day” at 1871, featuring a showcase for WMNfintech, North America's largest fintech accelerator for women. WMNfintech supports founders through mentorship, resources and programming and returned for its fifth consecutive year in 2024.
READ MORE: World Business Chicago to launch Future-of-FinTech event
What made headlines this week
- Locally based startup Coldcart is working to reduce companies' costs by keeping spoilage down. The company this summer announced $6.5 million in seed funding to further expand its platform across frozen and refrigerated shippers and other logistics providers. Coldcart analyzes shipping, warehousing and distribution providers and helps to figure out the best routing, packaging and shipping to use while considering realtime factors like cost, scheduling, weather and provider availability.
- Chicago Climate Tech Week included panels on a wide range of topics including biotech, energy, policy and the future of aviation. Anthony Gregory, COO of Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures — a recently launched subsidiary of the airline brand that looks for new opportunities to obtain scalable, sustainable aviation fuel — thinks Chicago and, more broadly, Illinois and the Midwest have the pieces to lead the way in decarbonizing the airline industry.
- Cybersecurity company Keeper Security announced James Edwards has been named senior director of engineering. Edwards previously served as the director of software engineering for more than six years at Delinea.
CEOs aim to reset remote-work expectations
Amazon.com Inc. once again is ushering its workers back to the office.
CEO Andy Jassy said in a recent blog post the company wants to combat inefficiency and bureaucracy and cultivate collaboration in part by rolling back remote work to pre-pandemic norms. That means not just a hybrid schedule of three days a week in the office, but making five days a week once again the norm — with allowances for workers' new post-pandemic capabilities.
The tech behemoth, however, is not alone. The most-recent KPMG CEO Outlook Survey shows there's been a dramatic pullback in hybrid and remote work as employers continue to navigate post-pandemic workplace norms and preferences.
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