Now that the summer has come to a close, we wanted to take a look at the Chicago startups that made moves over the past few months. Whether they just launched an app, raised funding, or got in to a prestigious accelerator, these Windy City startups are worth watching as we head into autumn.
Here are seven Chicago startups we're keeping our eye on this fall:
1. Brunch
Brunch wants to build the next big messaging app in Chicago, and it's got some well-known Windy City investors who are betting the startup will break through. Brunch, which launched earlier this month, is a proximity-based message board that enables friends to easily communicate with one another and see who's doing what and where. Users share what they're up to with their group of friends, and members are notified when a message is posted and can respond to the group or in a direct message.
Founded by Todd O'Hara, the co-founder of Toodalu, which was acquired by Chicago-based Spring Rewards in 2013, Brunch counts Illinois Tech Association CEO Fred Hoch, Belly CTO Craig Ulliot, and Wintrust Ventures head Bailey Moore as investors.
Football season is in full-swing, which means it's time to dust off the portable grill, fire up some brats, and get your tailgate on. But what if you could enjoy the benefits of a full-service tailgate without the hassle of lugging the equipment to the game and cleaning up when you're done? Tailgater Concierge, a newly launched startup in Chicago, wants to handle every detail associated with a college football tailgate from providing fans with tents, tables, chairs, coolers, and food, to cleaning up when the party is over.
The startup was founded by Neil Golden, the former chief marketing officer for McDonald's who spent 6 years as CMO--and 25 years in total under the Golden Arches--before leaving the company in 2014. Tailgater Concierge provides the service to fans at 18 universities across the country, including Northwestern, University of Illinois, and the University of Michigan.
Rithmio, a Chicago gesture recognition software startup that creates wearable tech for smartwatches and connected sporting equipment, made news this summer when it was named to EMERGE, a new program with the Department of Homeland Security designed to find and support wearable tech startups. EMERGE, working alongside Chicago-based tech accelerator TechNexus, hopes to connect wearable tech startups with large corporations to create technology for first responders, including police and firefighters.
Rithmio, which in June raised a $3 million seed round, says its technology could be used for a wide range of gesture recognition tasks, from more precisely monitoring exercise movements to trying to curb habits like smoking. The gesture of bringing a cigarette to a person's mouth, for example, could trigger a reminder to chew gum instead.
Rithmio, The Gesture Recognition Platform from Rithmio on Vimeo.
4. UProspie
Campus tours and brochures are able to paint a small picture of college life, but aren't great at showing what it's really like to be a student on campus. UProspie, a University of Chicago-born startup that's launching this fall, wants to change they way students tour prospective colleges by creating a platform for personalized on-campus visits. UProspie works by connecting prospective students with college students for on-campus visits in order to give students a true sense of campus life. Prospective students pay current students around $30 for the visit, with UProspie taking a 30% cut.
UProspie, which has raised over $50,000 in startup competitions this year, allows students to pick or be matched with a host based on their preferences, and see the campus differently than they would on a traditional tour.
5. Growth Geeks
Chicago-based Growth Geeks has built a marketplace to connect companies that have marketing needs with freelance marketers. Growth Geeks allows marketers to join the platform and list the skills they can perform for companies, such as social media growth, inbound marketing, lead generation, or PR. Companies use the service to search and hire marketing freelancers, and clients have included HubSpot, Brightbox, and 500 Level.
Growth Geeks was born out of Growth Hacker TV, a popular site in marketing circles that featured video interviews with executives from prominent startups. The startup is one of 10 companies in the 2015 Techstars Chicago class and is set to demo next month. The company says more than 4,000 freelance marketers have already signed up on the platform.
Akouba Credit, another current Techstars Chicago member, is an online lending startup for small businesses. Founded by Chris Rentner, the former COO of WedSocial, which was acquired by WeddingWire in 2013, Akouba Credit works with the community banks by offing a software package that allows them to issue small business loans for under $1 million.
Similar to how Avant issues consumer loans, Akouba Credit uses an algorithmic underwriting platform to reduce the time and cost required for banks to give small business loans. The company, which has begun signing banks to its platform, says its goal is to have 8-12 banks on-boarding upon completing Techstars.
7. Acentive
Acentive is a college tuition crowdfunding startup, but with a twist. The company, born out of Northwestern's Kellogg School, has built a performance-based crowdfunding platform where students earn money from family, friends, and community members only after hitting certain academic benchmarks. For example, a donor could pledge $100 for every A, $50 for every B, and so on, and Acentive audits the student's performance and processes donor pledges when goals are met.
Acentive launched last month and hopes to have 2,000 students on the platform by the end of October.
Have a suggestion for another Chicago startup that made moves this summer? Drop us a line in the comments.
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