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Next week President Barack Obama will officially leave the White House. Whether or not you were a fan on the man or his policies, there's no doubt that he left a mark on the Chicago tech community.
Obama's campaign election and reelection organizations were based in Chicago, and the tech teams there are now stuff of legend. They in many respects changed the way campaigns use digitals tools to target voters and galvanize supporters. Many Obama tech alums have remained in Chicago and have launched their own ventures after working with the president. Here's (a partial) list of the Chicago startups born out of the Obama campaign.
Civis Analytics Modest (acquired by PayPal) Timshel Public Good 270 Strategies EdgeFlip Bully Pulpit Interactive
Chicago techies also played a role in helping fix Obama's Healthcare.org site back in 2013, and have gone on to new projects. Paul Smith and Greg Gershman, two of the original technologists called in to fix Healthcare.gov, have gone on to launch Chicago startup Ad Hoc. Jason Huggins, another Chicagoan that helped fix Obama's healthcare website, recently founded Tapster, a robotics startup.
Chicago tech companies also popped up and succeeded alongside the president's Affordable Care Act, like insurance seller Harken Health, co-founded by Krista Nelson, and Purple Binder, a startup that helps healthcare workers find community services for patients. The company credits Obamacare with making its online tools more compelling. Valence Health, a medical management software provider that consults on contracts for the Affordable Care Act, was acquired for $145M. Chicago's GoHealth grew rapidly along with the rise of Obamacare. And when it came to immigration, Obama's startup visas were designed to encourage foreign entrepreneurs to start companies in the US, boosting Chicago and other tech communities.
At the end of the day, Obama and OFA brought a ton of young, passionate, hard-working people to Chicago, many of which have gone on to make significant and impactful tech companies.
