Front, a Y Combinator-backed startup based in San Francisco, is expanding to Chicago with plans to open a local office and hire dozens of employees.
Front, a startup founded in 2013 with more than $130 million in venture funding, announced that it's opening offices in Chicago and Dublin as its headcount grows to around 300 employees.
The Chicago office plans to grow to about 40 people in the next year, according to a Front spokesperson, and is currently hiring for around 10 roles. The company said it will open a physical office once it's safe to do so given the Covid-19 pandemic.
Front makes customer communication software for brands, helping companies respond to customers faster and keep their messages organized across multiple channels. It counts companies like Airbnb, Hulu and Lyft among its customers, as well as Chicago-based tech firms like Echo Global Logistics, Forager and Jellyvision.
Front said it worked with Chicago-based Re:Work, a non-profit sales training program that helps minority candidates find jobs at Chicago tech companies, to help it hire candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.
The startup was founded in France but moved its headquarters to San Francisco after participating in Y Combinator in 2014. Its investors include Sequoia Capital, Threshold Ventures and Zoom founder Eric Yuan.
Front's expansion comes as Farmers Business Network, another California-based upstart, recently announced plans to grow its presence in Chicago with a local outpost.
