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The Big One: Chicago startup raises seed round for AI 'answer engine'
Chicago tech platform iAsk announced $4.2M in seed funding this week.
The new financing for the "answer engine" powered by artificial intelligence was led by Corazon Capital, with participation from Chingona Ventures, Starting Line VC, Alumni Ventures, Listen VC, Motivate VC, Octava Singapore and Chicago Early Growth Ventures, among others including prominent angel investors.
Although Google commands 90% of the market in search, iAsk co-founder and CEO Dominik Mazur sees an opportunity with the emergence of artificial intelligence to disrupt the market.
"It sounds like a lofty goal, but we're confident that we can take on an important part of [Google's] traffic," he told Chicago Inno.
READ MORE: How Chicago startup iAsk aims to slice off a piece of Google's search-market share
What else you need to know
- Northwestern University plans to open a new high-tech school for business students as part of a $600M fundraising campaign. The building coming to the Kellogg School of Management will look to gather students, alumni, corporate leaders and faculty from around the world with tools for in-person and virtual education.
- A new report detailing venture capital investment in climate tech across the country shows a slight dip in VC Capital compared with 2023.
- Small business may be feeling a bit of relief after the Federal Reserve lowered its interest rates by 0.5% — but owners still have a number of challenges to overcome. For business owners looking for just a bit extra to close out the year, we have assembled a list of small-business grants to apply for in October 2024.
Chicago hydrogen startup fueling Army's green push
A Chicago hydrogen fuel startup is expanding its military partnerships as it continues to work toward a more sustainable transportation future.
Celadyne Technologies Inc. raised $4.5M in funding to begin the year to create more durable fuel cells as an environmentally friendlier alternative to diesel engines. Now the company is bringing its fuel cells to the United States Army as part of the Army’s push to bring potentially valuable small-business innovations to its operations.
The company signed a $1.9M contract expansion contract with the U.S. Army this week to show that its 50-kilowatt fuel cells can be used for ground support vehicle applications.
Celadyne founder and CEO Gary Ong said he’s excited to jump into the next chapter of this partnership as the Army continues to see fuel cell research as an emerging technology. Ong thinks hydrogen will be a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to decarbonization.
READ MORE: Celadyne expands US Army partnership to power ground support vehicles
World Business Chicago announces third cohort of its seed founder program
World Business Chicago's Gender Equity Office announced the nine woman entrepreneurs who will participate in its Seed Founder Program.
Launched in 2022, the Seed Founder Program offers support for pre-seed and seed-level women founders through tailored mentorship, networking and other opportunities.
The 2024-2025 Seed Founder cohort includes Perteet Spencer, founder of Ayo Foods; Lily Wang, founder of Demi; Mariana Padilla, founder of Hackerverse; Ashley Pradhan and Cierra Valor, founders of In Bold Print; Colette Ellis, founder of Libbie Health; Jill Miller, founder of Lunum; Prarthana Gupta, founder of OrdrSmart; Laura Epstein, founder of Pulse Charter Connect; and Shima Rayej, founder of Safe Rate.
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