Chicago tech is officially on ?.
Today, we’re announcing the 50 people and companies that are heating up Chicago tech in our annual 50 on Fire list. We invite this year's winners and their team, friends, family—and anyone that wants to network with Chicago's startup community—to join us Nov. 14 at Moonlight Studios to celebrate the 2019 winners as we honor the individuals and companies that continue to keep Chicago on top.
So, what exactly makes a company or individual on fire? We’re looking at people and companies that have had a banner year—whether that’s new funding, recent product launches, big hires or innovative approaches to solving problems. Winners were sourced by nominations and selected by the Chicago Inno editorial team.
At the event we’ll also unveil the eight "Inno Blazer" winners, which are the top people/companies from each category as determined by a panel of judges. (You can get tickets to the event here.)
Now, without further ado, here are Chicago Inno's 2019 50 on Fire.
B2B
Alexis Perlmutter, Director of Product, Civis Analytics: Perlmutter is the director of product at Civis Analytics, a Chicago startup backed by former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt that works with top public and private sector organizations to help them make data-driven decisions. Perlmutter joined Civis after working as a senior product manager at Amazon. After being promoted twice, she now leads product strategy for the entire company and was chosen to lead the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
FourKites: Chicago logistics-tech startup FourKites raised $50 million this year, bringing its total venture capital raised to $100 million since it launched in 2014. Its software helps companies predict when shipments will arrive, and can also monitor load temperatures and analyze a company’s supply chain data, helping businesses improve on-time delivery and minimize product loss. It was named one of the next billion-dollar startups of 2019 by Forbes.
Journera: Backed with roughly $15 million in VC funding from investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Journera is working to create a more seamless travel experience. Its software allows travel companies to communicate with each other and provide travel adjustments for their customers as needed. For example, if an individual’s flight is delayed, the car rental, hotel and dinner reservations would all automatically adjust to the new flight schedule. Founded by Orbitz founder Jeffrey Katz, Journera’s customers include big names like United Airlines, American Airlines, Hilton and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Hunt Club: Chicago recruiting startup Hunt Club leverages referrals from thousands of business leaders to help companies land the best talent. Founded in 2015, the startup has worked with companies like Pinterest, Dollar Shave Club and Verizon to hire the best employees. It recently landed a partnership with national tech accelerator Techstars to help its nearly 2,000 portfolio companies with hiring.
Kelly Dean, Chief People Officer, Jellyvision: As chief people officer of Jellyvision, Dean is in charge of talent operations at the growing Chicago tech company, leading recruitment, retention and employee experience. She created an 11-course manager training series from scratch, created the company’s bi-annual engagement survey, and has overseen nearly 100 new Jellyvision hires over the last three months. Dean also helped revamp the company’s diversity and inclusion strategy, while also leading interview training to eliminate bias throughout every step of the employee lifecycle.
Project44: Launched in 2014, project44 provides software to shippers and third-party logistics firms to help them track their shipments and communicate with the supply chain in real time. Last year the company raised two large rounds of funding, bringing its total amount raised to around $100 million. 2019 has been a record year for product launches for the company, and among its new offerings include Collaborative Visibility, which aims to change the way supply chains communicate by deepening collaboration through data sharing. Project44 has grown to more than 200 Chicago employees.
Shaniqua Davis, CEO and Founder, Noirefy: In 2016, Davis founded Noirefy, a platform that connects minority candidates and companies to drive diversity and inclusion. Specializing in helping African Americans, Latinx, Native Americans and women find work in tech and other industries, the startup has more than 20,000 candidates on its platform.
ThreeKit: Chicago startup ThreeKit helps brands improve upon the static images on their website by building completely interactive 3D experiences, letting customers better interact with products online. Founded by Ben Houston, a techie who spent 15 years in Hollywood working on special effects for movies like Harry Potter and Avatar, ThreeKit raised $10 million this year in a round led by serial entrepreneur Godard Abel.
Tillable: Tillable, founded by Chicago agtech entrepreneur Corbett Kull, has built an online marketplace to help landowners and farmers determine fair rent for farmland. Founded in 2017, Tillable now has more than 7,000 farmers and landowners using the platform. Earlier this year it raised $8.25 million in a Series A round. Kull previously founded 640 Labs, which was acquired by The Climate Corporation.
Relativity: Founded in 2001, Relativity has become one of Chicago’s fastest-growing tech companies. Relativity’s legal-tech software is used by 70 of the Fortune 100 and 198 of the top 200 law firms. Among its 180,000 customers is the U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier this year it hired former LinkedIn veteran and Chicago angel investor Mike Gamson as its next CEO. Relativity has around 1,000 employees across its offices in Chicago, London, Hong Kong, Australia and Poland.
B2C
Chas Jhin, VP of Engineering, Cameo: Jhin is the VP of engineering at Cameo, a fast-growing startup that allows people to request video shoutout messages from celebrities. Jhin joined Cameo in 2018 after spending four years at Chicago startup Civis Analytics. Jhin has overseen the rapid growth of the Cameo platform, and has helped lead the tech team as it has grown 6x over the last year.
Vivid Seats: Founded in 2001, Vivid Seats is the largest independent ticket marketplace in North America. This year it announced partnerships with Rolling Stone, Capital One, the LA Clippers, Groupon and others, and is on track to hire around 100 new employees in 2019, many of which are engineers. In late 2018 the company hired Grubhub vet Stan Chia as its CEO.
The Groomsman Suit: Founded by Diana Ganz and Jeanne Foley in 2016, The Groomsman Suit helps guys find suits and tuxes that are a cheaper than a traditional tuxedo rental shop. The company says it has suited more than 20,000 men to date, and this year it launched a prom line, kids line, and will soon launch a line of women’s suits and tuxedos. The startup, which operates a showroom in Chicago, is also opening a brick-and-mortar space in Philadelphia.
Stu Grubbs, CEO, Lightstream: Grubbs is the CEO and founder of Lightstream, a startup that makes it easier for people to produce livestream video. Last year, it launched a partnership with Microsoft that allows Xbox users to easily livestream content on Mixer, Xbox’s streaming platform that’s similar to Twitch. Earlier this year Lightstream raised $8 million in Series A funding led by Columbus-based Drive Capital.
Jiobit: Founded in 2016, Jiobit’s flagship product is a wearable GPS tracker for children that uses a combination of GPS and beacon technology to help parents keep track of their kids (it also has a similar product for pets). The company has also explored B2B channels, and this year received a Small Business Innovation & Research Phase 2 grant from the U.S. Air Force to bring its tracking technology to the U.S. Military. The startup raised a $6.5 million round of funding last November.
Civic & Education
The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center operates one of the most high-profile student startup accelerators in the country: The New Venture Challenge. In addition to its traditional student accelerator tracks, the program recently launched the Alumni New Venture Challenge, which allows any university alum in the world to participate in the accelerator. The NVC has successfully launched 330 companies still in operation today, which have gone on to raise more than $1 billion in funding and achieve more than $7.5 billion in exit value. Additionally, the Polsky Center supports entrepreneurs on Chicago’s South Side through the Polsky Small Business Growth Program, which aims to to support and advise small business owners on the South and West sides of Chicago.
Carter Cast, Professor, Kellogg School of Management: Cast is a faculty member at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Cast has received the Impact Award from his students each year from 2012-2017 and received the Sidney J. Levy award for teaching excellence in 2018. He has been nominated for Professor of the Year in 2015, 2018 and 2019. A clinical professor of innovation and entrepreneurship, the 1992 Kellogg alum teaches the popular “Launching and Leading Startups,” a case-driven survey course that examines issues faced by entrepreneurial CEOs. Cast joined Pritzker Group Venture Capital in 2012, where he is a venture partner.
Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship: The Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship is a new innovation and entrepreneurship center at Illinois Institute of Technology. Led by Chicago tech veteran Howard Tullman, The Kaplan Institute officially opened last October and is a 70,000-square-foot space devoted to fostering collaboration among Illinois Tech’s students, faculty, alumni, and business partners.
Victory Lap: Victory Lap, a sales training program, has seen triple digit growth across enrollment, employer sign up, and revenue since launching in October 2016. It has helped over 500 individuals prepare for success in sales at 150 Chicago tech companies. Last year Victory Lap, along with Sales Assembly and 1871, announced the launched of the Diversity Leadership Training Initiative, a free, two-month program for women and minority sales professionals.
Craig Wortmann, Professor, Kellogg School of Management: Wortmann is a clinical professor of innovation & entrepreneurship in the Kellogg School of Management's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, where he teaches "Entrepreneurial Selling," one of the school's most popular courses. He developed the course at the University of Chicago, and Inc. Magazine named it one of the Top Ten courses in the country. He’s also the founder and executive director of the Kellogg Sales Institute and a partner at Pritzker Group Venture Capital.
Fintech
Halo Investing: Founded in 2015 by Biju Kulathakal, a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of Redbox, Halo Investing provides structured note investments to the average investor. Halo says it can ensure transparency, competition and price efficiency to investors, and its clients include investment advisors, brokers, dealers and private banks. Earlier this year it raised $12 million in a Series B round, bringing its total amount raised to $15 million.
M1 Finance: Chicago investing platform M1 Finance has grown quickly since it decided to drop fees from its app last year, allowing users to invest for free. The startup aims to make it easier for people to invest by letting users build a custom portfolio of stocks and funds, or choose from dozens of expert portfolios. Founded in 2015, the startup has raised $9 million in venture funding to date.
Enova: Digital lending company Enova has issued $22 billion in loans and worked with more than 5 million customers since the Chicago tech company launched in 2004. The publicly-traded company, now at more than 1,300 employees, expects total revenue of $1.25 billion to $1.31 billion in 2019. Enova also has a diversity and inclusion council that promotes inclusivity and advancement of employees across the organization, and hosts events throughout the year.
Jason Henrichs, Managing Director, FinTech Forge: Chicago fintech veteran Jason Henrichs works to boost Chicago’s financial technology ecosystem as a founder, venture capitalist, executive, board member, advisor, angel investor and startup mentor. He’s the managing director of FinTech Forge, an organization that helps financial institutions with strategic fintech partnerships and investments. He is also the chairman of FinTEx Chicago, a non-profit building the fintech ecosystem in Chicago and the broader Midwest.
Colleen Sullivan, CEO, CMT Digital Holdings: Colleen Sullivan is a partner and CEO of CMT Digital, a division of the CMT Group that’s focused on crypto asset trading and blockchain technology investments. She’s assisted in investing in 17 blockchain and crypto companies, and as a member of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, she was invited to the U.S. Capitol to speak in front of Congress for Congressional Blockchain Education Day.
YCharts: YCharts’ financial software provides investment research tools including stock charts, stock ratings and economic indicators, giving professional investors the time and tools needed to justify their fees and grow their assets under management. The company, launched in 2009, has raised nearly $16 million in VC funding to date. Its newer offerings include Model Portfolios, which was released in 2018 and lets users visualize portfolio analysis.
Food & Beverage
Chowbus: Founded in 2016, Chowbus specializes in quick and cheap Asian food delivery. Earlier this year, the startup raised $4 million in a seed round led by New York-based investment firms Greycroft Partners and FJ Labs, bringing its total funding to $5.1 million.
Cultivian Sandbox: Founded in 2008, Cultivian Sandbox is a venture capital firm focused on agriculture and food technology companies. In April, the firm raised $135 million in its third fund to invest in emerging startups. To date, Cultivian has invested in 20 companies, four of which have exited.
Cleveland Avenue: Food startup accelerator Cleveland Avenue, founded by former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson, was an early investor in Los Angeles-based Beyond Meat, which went public in May. On the day of its initial public offering, Beyond Meat was valued at $3.8 billion. Cleveland Avenue has also invested in Chicago-based food companies Farmer’s Fridge and FoodBoss.
Aidan Mouat, CEO, Hazel Technologies: Hazel Technologies is a Chicago startup that’s developed packaging inserts that release anti-fungal vapor that can extend the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables. In 2019, under Mouat’s leadership, Hazel increased the shelf life of around 700 million pounds of fresh produce, doubled the startup’s staff and closed a $13 million Series B round.
Adam Ochstein, Founder, StratEx: In 2001, Ochstein founded StratEx, which was a Chicago-based HR and payroll software company focused on the restaurant industry. He served as the company's CEO up until July when it was acquired by Toast, the unicorn restaurant management platform provider. Though the StratEx brand has been absorbed by Toast, much of its tech is still used by restaurants to automate scheduling, applicant tracking, payroll, benefits and labor law compliance.
Healthcare
Tempus: The cancer-fighting startup, founded by Eric Lefkofsky, raised $200 million in May in a Series F round that values the Chicago startup at $3.1 billion. The fundraise came less than a year after Tempus raised $110 million at a $2 billion valuation. Tempus has now raised a total of $520 million since it launched in 2015.
MATTER: The Chicago health-tech incubator that’s been nurturing startups since 2015 is expanding. MATTER announced in September that in collaboration with the New York City Economic Development Corporation and health care investment firm Deerfield Management, Matter will open an innovation center in New York. The idea is to connect startups with life sciences companies, healthcare providers and academic research centers.
VillageMD: The tech company, which makes a healthcare platform for primary care doctors, landed $100 million this September following an $80 million round last year. VillageMD partners with primary care providers to help them cut costs and deliver better patient outcomes. The startup provides doctors with data analytics, staffing support and other resources to improve the quality of care. The company was founded in 2013 by healthcare veterans Tim Barry and Clive Fields.
GoHealth: Founded in 2001, GoHealth is an online health insurance marketplace that connects consumers and businesses with health plans. Over the summer, private equity firm Centerbridge Partners made a “significant investment” in Chicago-based GoHealth, with reports saying the deal was worth about $1.5 billion.
metaMe Health: Founded in 2016 by Daniel Bernstein, metaMe has developed a product called Regulora, a tool that uses digital therapeutics to treat gastrointestinal conditions. In August, metaMe Health raised $3.8 million in a round led by LionBird Ventures, a Tel Aviv and Chicago-based venture firm that backs digital health startups. The startup’s software creates a behavior-focused treatment that’s intended to address the cognitive, behavioral and affective drivers of IBS, the company says.
Kalderos: The Chicago startup, which is building a drug discount management solution to improve transparency around drug pricing, raised $7 million earlier this year. Founded in 2016, Kalderos is creating a pharmacy audit platform that aims to be the first real-time, compliant, point-of-sale chargeback solution for the prescription drug market.
Lifestyle
Cameo: If you haven’t heard of Cameo, you haven’t been paying attention. The buzzy consumer startup that allows users to request personalized video messages from celebrities, raised $50 million in a Series B round earlier this year. Now, the company is valued at around $300 million, according to Axios. In total, Cameo has raised more than $65 million since it launched just two years ago.
Reverb: Chicago-based online music gear marketplace Reverb was acquired by Etsy for $275 million in cash this summer. Launched in 2013, Reverb built an online marketplace where shoppers can buy and sell new, used and vintage music gear. The company raised $47 million in venture capital from investors such as serial entrepreneur Eric Lefkofsky, PayPal Founder Max Levchin and GE32 Capital. In 2018, the company reported revenue of $36 million.
Cresco Labs: Founded in 2014, Cresco has grown to one of the world’s largest cannabis growers and dispensary operators, operating in 12 states across the country. Last year, Cresco raised $100 million in venture capital funding and went public on the Canadian Securities Exchange. And earlier this year, Cresco acquired a competitor for $850 million, which was the largest public cannabis company acquisition ever in the U.S.
VeoRide: As the competition for electric scooters stiffens, Chicago-based VeoRide has tried to make itself stand out. The e-scooter company says it’s the first to offer a swappable battery that simplifies how scooters are charged. The company is one of 10 e-scooter companies participating in Chicago’s first e-scooter pilot, and VeoRide recently unveiled new helmet tech that could improve safety for all riders.
Oars + Alps: After raising just $1.3 million in outside funding, Chicago men’s skincare startup Oars + Alps was quietly acquired for about $20 million by S.C. Johnson this year. Launched in 2016 by Mia Saini Duchnowski and Laura Lisowski Cox, who were both frustrated by the lack of healthy products available for their husbands, Oars + Alps makes men’s skincare products made with natural and toxin-free ingredients. It sells deodorant, moisturizer, body wash and other products.
PartySlate: Earlier this year, PartySlate raised $3 million to grow its business, which connects event planners with vendors. Founded in 2015, PartySlate is run by Joh Haro and Julie Roth Novack and it has raised $6 million to date.
Supporters
Chicago Innovation: Founded 17 years ago, Chicago Innovation has made it its mission to celebrate Chicago tech. The organization’s year-long series of events and programs over the last year saw record highs in annual event attendance and participation. The events range in topic, focus and audience, addressing the theme that "Innovation is for Everyone" and that "Innovators are the Real Stars of Chicago."
Sonia Nagar, Partner, Pritzker Group Venture Capital: This year, Nagar was named Pritzker Group’s first female partner in 10 years. Nagar originally joined Pritzker Group as vice president in 2016, a role in which she was responsible for sourcing and overseeing investments in consumer industries. She led the firm’s investments in startups such as Wander Beauty, Rael and Chicago’s Interior Define, where she sits on the board.
Suzanne Muchin, Clinical Associate Professor, Northwestern University: Muchin, Clinical Associate Professor of Communications in the Kellogg Architectures of Collaboration Initiative, doesn’t just spend her time teaching. She’s also the co-founder of Bonfire, a talent development accelerator for the rising generation of women in the workplace, and is the host of work/life podcast The Big Payoff. She’ll also be taking stage as the host of TEDX Chicago. Muchin was a founding partner and lead strategist of Mind + Matter Studio, and a founder of Frequency540, a strategic communications agency that acquired her first brand strategy firm, ROI Ventures (Return on Inspiration).
Jeremie Bacon, Chairman, Illinois Technology Association: Though Bacon works to support Chicago’s tech ecosystem at the ITA, he’s also helping launch The Forge, an outdoor adventure park in suburban Lemont. The project began in 2015 and recently broke ground in August, with plans to open in the summer of 2020. The Forge will be the first park of its kind in the country, combining aerial courses, climbing, ziplines, mountain biking, running trails, a children’s zone and many other outdoor attractions.
Rick Desai, Partner, Listen Ventures: Desai is a partner at Listen, a consumer venture capital fund that backs and builds the brands of tomorrow. Listen's investments include Calm, Interior Define, Factor, and Catch Co. He is also an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Northwestern's School of Management and is currently teaching both New Venture Development and Digital Marketing Implementation. Desai previously co-founded Dashfire, a startup studio that built and invested in over 40+ companies since 2009 including 20 in Chicago.
Neal Sáles-Griffin, Managing Director, Techstars Chicago: Sáles-Griffin, the well-known Chicago tech entrepreneur and former mayoral candidate, was named the managing director of Techstars Chicago this summer. Sáles-Griffin, who has long been a mentor and coach to startups in Techstars Chicago, has worked at venture capital firms, taught himself to code and founded Code Academy, which was later renamed The Starter League.
mHUB: Launched as a massive space for Chicago’s hardware entrepreneurs to design and build their products, mHUB made strides this past year to support startups even more. mHUB announced over the summer that it is planning to raise a $15 million fund to invest in early-stage hardware startups. The fund, called the Accelerate Impact Fund, will be raised over the next three years and aims to back 60 hardware businesses.
Katherine Davis contributed to this report.
