Chicago tech had quite a year when it came to startup acquisitions. Exit sales serve as a finish line for many companies, and a big pay day for founders and seed investors.
RXBAR had the most talked-about exit sale of the year when it was acquired by breakfast and snack food conglomerate Kellogg for $600 million in October, and served as evidence that food startups can not only survive in Chicago, but thrive.
Other notable exits included footwear design startup Bucketfeet and Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky's Drivin. Here are 10 Chicago startups that were acquired in 2017:
AdBasis: The company, founded in 2014 by Jason Puckett, the former VP of sales at Chicago startup SocialKaty, and Joe DiVita, a former software engineer at Belly, was acquired by Airbnb in November. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but AdBasis has shut down, while Airbnb retained the company’s IP. Additionally, AdBasis’ senior leadership relocated to San Francisco, according to a report by TechCrunch.
Bucketfeet: The startup, which makes and sells artist-designed sneakers, was acquired by Threadless, another Chicago e-commerce lifestyle brand in October. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Threadless said it wants to use Bucketfeet to produce on-demand footwear. As a result of the acquisition, Bucketfeet will close its three brick-and-mortar stores. The startup, which launched in 2011, raised more than $28 million in funding.
Blitsy: The e-commerce company that sells arts and crafts products was acquired in November by Nicole Crafts, the parent company of New Jersey-based A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts, which has 135 brick and mortar locations across the East Coast. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Drivin: The local startup that was launched in 2015 by Groupon founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky, was acquired in April for $43 million in stock by KAR, a car auction services company in Carmel, Indiana. Drivin, which raised more than $23 million in funding, operated as a tool for car dealerships to sell, source and acquire vehicles for their lots.
Motion AI: In September, HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales platform based in Boston, acquired Chicago startup Motion AI for $9 million, according to an SEC filing. Motion AI, which creates artificial intelligence chatbots for businesses, launched in 2015 and raised only $700,000 in outside funding from investors, such as New York-based Crush Ventures and Chicago’s Hyde Park Angels.
Persio: The startup that made software to help brands automatically send customized mobile messages to customers, was acquired by Philadelphia-based Clutch in January. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Clutch is a data-driven marketing company and its clients include Pandora, New Balance and Godiva.
Radish: The meal delivery company, which raised $2 million in funding, was acquired by Chicago-based Tovala in November. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Tovala acquired Radish’s delivery techniques, IP, data and recipes, and will offer Radish’s most popular meals to Tovala customers.
RXBAR: The nutrition bar maker announced in October that it was being acquired by Kellogg for $600 million. According to the deal terms, RXBAR will continue to operate as an independent business. Kellogg, which owns major brands like Special K, Eggo and Cheez-It, is based out of Battle Creek, Michigan. RXBAR was founded by Peter Rahal and Jared Smith in 2013 and have become the fastest growing nutrition bar brand in the U.S.
Thoughtworks: The local software company, which provided software design and tech consulting services, was acquired in August by Apax Partners, a London-based private equity firm. Thoughtworks, launched in 1993, had grown into a 4,500-person business with 42 offices in 15 countries. Their clients included major companies like Target, Dominos and Delta. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Zcruit: The sports analytics startup was acquired this month by Reigning Champs, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based company that provides resources to student athletes, parents, coaches and colleges. Zcruit, founded in 2016 by Northwestern University undergraduate students, is the maker of a software that uses predictive analytics to assess how likely a football recruit is to commit to a university. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Zcruit will continue to operate independently under Reigning Champs.
