Techstars

Techstars Central LLC, founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, operates as a startup accelerator and venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage technology-oriented companies. It specializes in a mentorship-driven accelerator program, selecting ten startups each summer to participate in a three-month incubation period, offering funding of $120,000 in exchange for equity. Techstars invests primarily in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, and IoT, while avoiding investments in medical devices, healthcare technology, and local service-oriented businesses. In addition to its primary accelerator, Techstars has various specialized programs, including those focused on music, retail, mobility, and social impact, with global reach extending to regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm prefers taking minority stakes, typically between six and ten percent, without seeking board representation or investor rights. Techstars has built a robust network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and corporate partners to foster innovation and growth within its portfolio, which includes over 1,000 companies with a significant collective market capitalization.

Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Max Kelly

Managing Director of Techstars London

Lesa Mitchell

Managing Director

Vijay Tirathrai

Managing Director

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in Illinois

ShowingHero

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Showing Hero provide a simple solution to the leasing woes. The moment a prospect tenant shows interest either online or through the phone, ShowingHero steps in. They respond to 100% of leads, pre-screen and provide them access to your market listing and available showtimes. They nurture the prospect by sending customized communications on a timely basis through email and text; reminding them about their upcoming appointment to help drastically reduce no-shows. ShowingHero also follows up with tenants and gathers feedback on the showing and the property, giving you insight each step of the way!

Havoc Shield

Venture Round in 2022
Havoc Shield, Inc. is a Chicago-based company that specializes in developing cyber security programs tailored for small businesses. Founded in 2019, the company focuses on providing fast and effective solutions to help these businesses protect their digital assets from cyber threats.

Havoc Shield

Seed Round in 2022
Havoc Shield, Inc. is a Chicago-based company that specializes in developing cyber security programs tailored for small businesses. Founded in 2019, the company focuses on providing fast and effective solutions to help these businesses protect their digital assets from cyber threats.

Improovy

Seed Round in 2022
Using technology and data, Improovy's full-service platform allows homeowners to get an accurate price, get matched to a fully certified contractor, and schedule their project online in 2 minutes or less. Founded by the owners of some of the largest and fastest-growing contracting companies in the nation, Improovy knows what it takes to provide a world-class home improvement service experience. As a result, Improovy's revolutionary system empowers contractors to perform the best work of their lives.

bekome

Pre Seed Round in 2022
bekome is a mental heath tech startup aiming to simplify, modernize, and humanize the experience of finding the right, tailored mental healthcare for young adults. bekome's mission is to use technology to help care providers and care seekers navigate a broken system by redefining how care-seekers and providers connect, evaluate and match together. bekome is the only mental health platform that effectively elevates the important factors at the intersection of personality, culture, and presenting challenges to curate the best-fit match between care providers and seekers. Every aspect of the bekome platform is designed to help care seekers gauge fit with a provider and feel confident in their mental health journeys.

Rheaply

Funding Round in 2022
Rheaply, Inc. is a Chicago-based company founded in 2016 that offers an online platform called Asset Exchange Manager (AxM). This platform allows organizations to buy, sell, trade, donate, and rent resources, facilitating better visibility and utilization of assets. Rheaply connects a diverse array of users, including Fortune 500 companies, startups, school systems, and nonprofit organizations, enabling them to create a marketplace for resource exchange both internally and externally. The company aims to enhance resource management and promote sustainability through its innovative asset management solutions.

Visual Feeder

Seed Round in 2022
Visual Feeder Corporation operates an online marketplace that connects landlords with an opportunity to monetize their vacant space by projecting branded visual experiences on their windows space. It offers WindowScape street level digital campaign in stores, shopping malls, and high traffic retail locations. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois.

The Collaboratory

Pre Seed Round in 2022
The Collaboratory is accelerating biopharma innovation by building a comprehensive AI-powered research platform for public and proprietary data The platform includes a number of aggregation, search, and summarization features that can be customized to the needs of life sciences companies, including: -Automated data ingestion: The Collaboratory can index and make searchable all text documents across multiple sources within a company - even if the documents' metadata schema do not match -AI-based summarization tools: Users can quickly parse through hundreds of documents using The Collaboratory's automatically-generated document summaries -Figure and image search: User can directly search for scientific figures and key tables within documents - and receive recommendations for related images -Concept-based recommendations: Using new NLP technology, The Collaboratory's platform provides conceptually-related recommendations from both proprietary and public research, helping researchers understand the scientific context around every document -Personalized search: The Collaboratory's platform can recommend content tailored to each user’s needs, based upon their areas of expertise and research interests Those interested in a practical demonstration can also visit thecollaboratory.ai to interact with an online proof-of-concept tool that demonstrates several of The Collaboratory's product features on publicly available scientific data.

Arvist

Seed Round in 2022
Arvist is providing critical insights for supply chain operations. Reducing cost, improving productivity and ensuring safety of the warehouse personnel without any new infrastructure investment is now real. Arvist uses the existing security cameras in the warehouses and gives game changing real-time insights.

HData

Seed Round in 2021
HData, Inc. is a provider of regulatory technology (RegTech) solutions designed to support data companies in scaling their services for government regulators, regulated enterprises, and investors. Established in 2018 and based in Joliet, Illinois, the company focuses on transforming traditional regulatory activities such as compliance, reporting, and regulatory analysis through innovative technologies. HData develops a comprehensive platform that integrates solutions for both regulators and enterprises, facilitating a more efficient interface between the public and private sectors. The company also offers strategic counsel and relationship management services to assist clients in identifying growth opportunities within the regulatory landscape. The founder and CEO, Hudson Hollister, has a background in advocating for government data reforms, including contributions to the DATA Act of 2014.

Clinify Health

Seed Round in 2021
Clinify Health works with independent physician practices who care for populations in underserved communities to achieve financial stability by optimizing decision-making at the point-of-care which results in these practices being able to enter in to, and succeed in, alternative payment arrangements.

HAAS Alert

Seed Round in 2021
HAAS Alert is the leading mobility and smart city data service provider keeping emergency crews, drivers and the public safe through Cellular V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) communication. Drivers and emergency crews use the information to avoid collisions and reduce traffic delays. The HAAS Alert Safety Cloud is a real-time data stream connecting first responders, commercial, municipal, and slow moving fleets with motorists, connected and autonomous vehicles. Connected "smart"​ communities use the service to inform infrastructure, planning and real-time traffic management. The company is currently working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on advanced solutions and has support from leading safety organizations including NSC (National Safety Council), TSR (Together for Safer Roads), FAMA (Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association) and NFPA (National Fire Protection Association).

Eventnoire

Funding Round in 2021
Eventnoire offers software solutions to event planners for online event registration, venue selection, event management, mobile apps for events, and *e-mail marketing catered to you. This unique platform also serves as resource for event marketers to advertise their events to consumers looking to attend events that are relevant to them and their interests.

Science On Call

Pre Seed Round in 2021
24/7 subscription-based tech support for restaurants. Help with point of sale, internet, Wi-Fi, online ordering, email, phones, and more — just one call or text away, even on nights & weekends! A Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator portfolio company (2021), Food Foundry (2020)

Zerv

Seed Round in 2021
Zerv is modern technology that enables smartphones to communicate with any access reader without updates to the system. Period. Access badges and readers have been doing the job for years, however the overwhelming majority cannot communicate with your smartphone. Instead of costly and timely updates, use Zerv’s solution to bridge the gap, and reap the benefits of mobile access.

WorkChew

Seed Round in 2021
WorkChew Inc. owns and operates a marketplace platform that connects mobile and remote workers to workspaces in restaurants and hotels in Chicago, Illinois, Virginia; and Washington, District of Columbia. The company's platform provides co-working spaces with food, drinks, and tools such as wifi. WorkChew Inc. was founded in 2018 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia.

JusticeText

Pre Seed Round in 2021
JusticeText develops an audiovisual evidence management platform for the justice system and criminal defense attorneys. The company’s platform generates an automated transcription of the uploaded video evidence and produces fairer outcomes in the criminal justice system by expediting the review of crucial audiovisual data, including body camera footage, interrogation videos, and jail calls. It enables public defenders to process and incorporate crucial audio and video evidence in defense of their clients. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Ballbox

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Ballbox is a provider of logistics services focused on the rental of sports, technology, and leisure equipment. The company offers an innovative solar-powered vending system that allows tourists and residents to rent items such as footballs and beach chairs. By enabling customers to access packages purchased online, rent products for immediate use, and buy necessary items on the spot, Ballbox facilitates a convenient experience for users at various locations, including apartments, hotels, parks, and beaches. This approach not only enhances leisure activities but also supports retailers by allowing them to deliver their products directly to consumers.

ViuHealth

Non Equity Assistance in 2020
Drugviu combine data from FDA clinical trials, with physician and pharmacist expertise plus demographic relevant crowdsourced reviews to give you and your family trusted medication information. They have intentionally focused on Asian, Black, Latino and Native American populations because these groups have traditionally been underrepresented in medicine starting with clinical trials to measuring outcomes. They strongly believe everyone is important and everyone’s experiences matter. They believe that information is power not just for one’s self but when shared can really change communities.

Havoc Shield

Seed Round in 2020
Havoc Shield, Inc. is a Chicago-based company that specializes in developing cyber security programs tailored for small businesses. Founded in 2019, the company focuses on providing fast and effective solutions to help these businesses protect their digital assets from cyber threats.

Improovy

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Using technology and data, Improovy's full-service platform allows homeowners to get an accurate price, get matched to a fully certified contractor, and schedule their project online in 2 minutes or less. Founded by the owners of some of the largest and fastest-growing contracting companies in the nation, Improovy knows what it takes to provide a world-class home improvement service experience. As a result, Improovy's revolutionary system empowers contractors to perform the best work of their lives.

Nutrisense

Funding Round in 2020
NutriSense, Inc. is a Chicago-based company established in 2019 that focuses on personalizing nutrition through advanced continuous glucose monitoring and machine learning technology. The company offers a monthly subscription service that includes a glucose sensor and a mobile application for tracking meals, activities, and fasting. NutriSense aims to help clients understand their metabolism and manage their health effectively by providing tailored dietary recommendations and access to personal dietitians. Through its innovative approach, NutriSense seeks to empower individuals to create a diet that is uniquely suited to their needs.

ChangEd

Pre Seed Round in 2020
ChangEd is a mobile app that helps pay down student loans by using spare change from everyday purchases to make additional payments. ChangEd securely links to credit and debit cards, rounds purchases up to the next dollar and sends that change to a loan servicer.

WorkChew

Pre Seed Round in 2020
WorkChew Inc. owns and operates a marketplace platform that connects mobile and remote workers to workspaces in restaurants and hotels in Chicago, Illinois, Virginia; and Washington, District of Columbia. The company's platform provides co-working spaces with food, drinks, and tools such as wifi. WorkChew Inc. was founded in 2018 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia.

Trala

Seed Round in 2020
Trala, Inc. develops a violin teaching application for students and teachers. It offers Trala, an application that enables students to get instant feedback on mistakes, view tutorial videos, learn daily lessons, chat with a teacher, learn songs, and practice journals. The company’s application also enables teachers to list of pieces practiced, measure information on students' progress, snapshot practice activities, and give feedback to students. Trala, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Anthill

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Anthill AI is a software company that offers personal and actionable workforce development. The company was founded by Muriel Clauson and Young-Jae Kim and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

OjaExpress

Pre Seed Round in 2020
OjaExpress is a digital marketplace for ethnic and cultural groceries. We are dedicated to helping local independent ethnic grocery stores grow and compete in a sustainable way. OjaExpress helps these grocery stores thrive. By helping customers discover the independent grocery stores unique, cultural product offerings and helping independent grocery stores connect with customers. OjaExpress powers online ordering for independent grocery stores via the OjaExpress platform, while also providing the grocery store partners key customer insights and marketing support.

Rheaply

Seed Round in 2020
Rheaply, Inc. is a Chicago-based company founded in 2016 that offers an online platform called Asset Exchange Manager (AxM). This platform allows organizations to buy, sell, trade, donate, and rent resources, facilitating better visibility and utilization of assets. Rheaply connects a diverse array of users, including Fortune 500 companies, startups, school systems, and nonprofit organizations, enabling them to create a marketplace for resource exchange both internally and externally. The company aims to enhance resource management and promote sustainability through its innovative asset management solutions.

Contract Cloud

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Contract Cloud, Inc., founded in 2018 and based in Roscoe, Illinois, specializes in contract security and accountability software tailored for small businesses seeking government contracts. The company offers an intuitive platform that simplifies the proposal process by providing guided user experiences grounded in proposal management expertise. Contract Cloud enhances the Request for Proposal (RFP) lifecycle through features such as precise bid matching, automated workflows, collaborative content management, and intelligent document generation. Additionally, the platform provides on-demand assistance, enabling users to compete effectively for contracts based on their performance capabilities rather than their ability to navigate complex forms.

Havoc Shield

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Havoc Shield, Inc. is a Chicago-based company that specializes in developing cyber security programs tailored for small businesses. Founded in 2019, the company focuses on providing fast and effective solutions to help these businesses protect their digital assets from cyber threats.

Nutrisense

Pre Seed Round in 2020
NutriSense, Inc. is a Chicago-based company established in 2019 that focuses on personalizing nutrition through advanced continuous glucose monitoring and machine learning technology. The company offers a monthly subscription service that includes a glucose sensor and a mobile application for tracking meals, activities, and fasting. NutriSense aims to help clients understand their metabolism and manage their health effectively by providing tailored dietary recommendations and access to personal dietitians. Through its innovative approach, NutriSense seeks to empower individuals to create a diet that is uniquely suited to their needs.

Visual Feeder

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Visual Feeder Corporation operates an online marketplace that connects landlords with an opportunity to monetize their vacant space by projecting branded visual experiences on their windows space. It offers WindowScape street level digital campaign in stores, shopping malls, and high traffic retail locations. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Sympatic

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Sympatic specializes in developing cloud-based tools that facilitate secure data sharing between data owners and third parties. The company aims to create an efficient marketplace for health data, enabling owners to grant temporary access for analysis and collaboration while retaining control over their information. This approach allows users to safely share valuable or sensitive data, fostering partnerships and optimizing the value derived from their data without compromising security or confidentiality. Sympatic's focus on engineering and its team of dedicated professionals underscore its commitment to transforming the landscape of health data accessibility.

ReelCrafter

Seed Round in 2020
ReelCrafter launched in late 2016 with a goal to arm composers, musicians, songwriters, and other audio professionals with the best possible tools for creating and sending private demo reels. With our detailed tracking abilities, we provide our customers with insight into how each recipient of their demo reel engaged with their tracks. They can see which parts of their reel were played or skipped, informing the artist how they can refine their pitch to make the biggest impact. Looking to the future, our goal is to expand our toolset to empower musical artists and help them get work, *and* get work done.

Elite Personal Chefs

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Elite Personal Chefs, LLC is a catering and culinary service provider based in Chicago, Illinois, established in 2011. The company specializes in offering personal chef services for various occasions, including weddings, corporate events, and social gatherings. In addition to catering, Elite Personal Chefs provides bartending services, culinary consultations, and sanitation licensing. The company also engages in private demonstrations and participates in trade shows and promotional events, showcasing their expertise in culinary application and product development.

Pepper

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Pepper is a personalized nutrition company based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 2016. It focuses on empowering individuals to manage their dietary habits at home through innovative kitchen technology. The company is also developing a suite of nutrition APIs that assist health, food, insurance, and technology firms in enhancing user experiences and making informed business decisions. Additionally, Pepper operates a content-mediation platform that connects skilled writers with organizations seeking customized content solutions, ensuring high-quality writing services tailored to various needs.

GoNanny

Pre Seed Round in 2020
GoNanny is an online platform founded in 2016 and based in Chicago, Illinois, that connects parents with childcare providers. The company aims to support busy families by offering a range of services, including child care rides, private coaching, light housework, meal preparation, and engaging activities for children. GoNanny focuses on pairing families with consistent childcare providers, ensuring a reliable support system. The platform allows parents to book services in flexible increments, such as 15-minute intervals, and provides features that keep parents informed about their child's care, enhancing peace of mind. Providers are carefully selected through a rigorous screening process to ensure quality and trustworthiness.

Bottlecode

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Bottlecode LLC offers guidance and prescription related to the use of men’s skincare products. It provides personalized regimes of skincare products to men based on their answers about their lifestyle, surroundings, skin type, and skincare objective. It also offers guidance on what skincare products to use and how to use them. The company provides its services through its digital platform. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

TRIGGR LLC

Pre Seed Round in 2019
As of January 13, 2020, TRIGGR LLC was acquired by SonarMD, LLC. TRIGGR LLC designs and develops a predictive system of care for addiction recovery that supports users on their personal path to long-term remission. It offers Triggr Health, a web-based and app based platform that helps users to create a plan and path to relief from opioid, alcohol, and other substance dependency. The company’s platform also allows users to predict the state of a person’s recovery in real-time. TRIGGR LLC was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Shurpa

Seed Round in 2019
Shurpa offers custom delivery logistics for e-commerce. The company helps e-commerce brands compete with great delivery. Shurpa is changing the way online purchases are delivered. We design consumer-centric delivery operations that help companies compete on the only physical touchpoint of e-commerce.

Clearstep

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Clearstep Inc. develops and operates an integrated platform for symptom checking, care routing, and population-level intelligence. It offers Clearstep, a platform that is used for disease management; and enables doctors to visualize their patient populations via business intelligence. Clearstep Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

DwellSocial

Pre Seed Round in 2019
DwellSocial, Inc. operates an online platform designed to connect homeowners with contractors, facilitating home projects and services. Established in 2017 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the platform enhances user engagement by offering professional referrals from community members, thereby creating job opportunities. Additionally, DwellSocial aggregates demand for meals from local restaurants and organizes restaurant pop-ups in suburban areas, allowing these establishments to extend their service reach. This approach enables restaurants to efficiently serve new customers while benefiting from concentrated orders within the community. By fostering connections between homeowners, contractors, and local businesses, DwellSocial aims to empower neighborhoods and strengthen local economies.

ViuHealth

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Drugviu combine data from FDA clinical trials, with physician and pharmacist expertise plus demographic relevant crowdsourced reviews to give you and your family trusted medication information. They have intentionally focused on Asian, Black, Latino and Native American populations because these groups have traditionally been underrepresented in medicine starting with clinical trials to measuring outcomes. They strongly believe everyone is important and everyone’s experiences matter. They believe that information is power not just for one’s self but when shared can really change communities.

Trala

Seed Round in 2018
Trala, Inc. develops a violin teaching application for students and teachers. It offers Trala, an application that enables students to get instant feedback on mistakes, view tutorial videos, learn daily lessons, chat with a teacher, learn songs, and practice journals. The company’s application also enables teachers to list of pieces practiced, measure information on students' progress, snapshot practice activities, and give feedback to students. Trala, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Jiobit

Venture Round in 2018
Jiobit is the world's smallest and longest lasting tracking solution. With a Jiobit device and smartphone app, parents (and pet parents) can find their loved ones anywhere: Indoors, outdoors, in over 120 countries and even in multi-level buildings. With weeks of battery life and a durable and discreet design, Jiobit is the world's smallest real-time location tracking product. The mobile app (run through a wireless subscription service) offers the most comprehensive set of monitoring and notification features available on the market. Overall, Jiobit gives parents peace of mind while allowing kids to be kids. The Jiobit team is comprised of seasoned engineers, designers, and marketers with a history of building innovative and disruptive consumer products and businesses. The team has logged a combined 150 patents from previous endeavors and developed and shipped products selling in the millions worldwide. We are proudly headquartered in Chicago, with a development center in Silicon Valley.

Clicktivated

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Clicktivated Video, INC. owns and operates an Amplified Video Engagement (AVE) platform that allows users to interact with individual products featured within video and buy it. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Birmingham, Alabama with additional offices in Detroit, Michigan; New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California.

Priva

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Priva is a door-to-door regional mobility solution - ride in a luxury van that has been converted to a business office on wheels: private, connected and optimized for productivity, collaboration and rest. Priva is an ideal alternative to short-haul flights for leisure and business travelers; saving money and creating time to work and rest. Priva is part of Techstars Mobility 2018.

Autobon AI

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Autobon Holdings, Inc. specializes in developing vehicle assistance software aimed at enhancing fuel efficiency, safety, and operational effectiveness for truckers and fleet owners. The company's innovative technologies, including Autobon Visor and CargoCam, facilitate the tracking and monitoring of cargo and trucks, thereby improving overall logistics management. Founded in 2016 and based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, Autobon is committed to transforming existing semi-trucks into safer and more automated vehicles. By providing a low-cost autopilot platform, Autobon empowers America's truck drivers and fleets to engage with the evolving landscape of autonomous transportation.

Neopenda

Seed Round in 2018
Neopenda designs and develops a reusable vital signs monitoring device integrated into a baby hat used by healthcare companies. The company is based in New York City, New York. Neopenda LLC designs and manufactures wearable devices that monitor the vital signs of critically ill newborns. The devices help measure pulse rate, respiratory rate, peripheral blood oxygen saturation, and temperature of newborns. The wearables are powered by rechargeable batteries, and wirelessly transmit health data to a central monitoring application which alerts health workers in real time when a newborn is in distress. Neopenda LLC was founded in 2015 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Trala

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Trala, Inc. develops a violin teaching application for students and teachers. It offers Trala, an application that enables students to get instant feedback on mistakes, view tutorial videos, learn daily lessons, chat with a teacher, learn songs, and practice journals. The company’s application also enables teachers to list of pieces practiced, measure information on students' progress, snapshot practice activities, and give feedback to students. Trala, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Rheaply

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Rheaply, Inc. is a Chicago-based company founded in 2016 that offers an online platform called Asset Exchange Manager (AxM). This platform allows organizations to buy, sell, trade, donate, and rent resources, facilitating better visibility and utilization of assets. Rheaply connects a diverse array of users, including Fortune 500 companies, startups, school systems, and nonprofit organizations, enabling them to create a marketplace for resource exchange both internally and externally. The company aims to enhance resource management and promote sustainability through its innovative asset management solutions.

Speeko

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Automated voice analytics and digital communication coaching

4Degrees

Seed Round in 2018
4Degrees helps professionals build better relationships, and democratize access to social capital - driven by machine learning. The company envisions to equalize opportunity by enabling you to build stronger professional relationships. Its platform identifies the right connections for you to focus on, works with you to strengthen those relationships over time, and helps you activate your network when you need it.

WeSolv

Seed Round in 2018
WeSolv, LLC is an online recruiting platform based in Chicago, Illinois, that connects MBA students with companies by addressing real business challenges. Founded in 2015, the platform facilitates collaboration between diverse MBA candidates and organizations, providing students with valuable learning experiences while allowing them to demonstrate their skills to potential employers. By leveraging real-time performance data, WeSolv aims to enhance hiring practices and broaden companies' talent pipelines, enabling them to identify and recruit the best candidates efficiently. The company focuses on creating a centralized ecosystem that fosters meaningful partnerships between motivated students and leading firms.

StoryXpress

Convertible Note in 2017
StoryXpress Inc. is a company headquartered in Roselle, Illinois, that specializes in cloud-based video creation tools. Founded in 2017, it offers an API that allows businesses to seamlessly integrate video creation capabilities into their platforms, enabling the conversion of images, text, and video clips into promotional videos. This automation significantly reduces the time and cost associated with traditional video production, which can be prohibitively expensive for many retailers. By providing a web-based DIY application, StoryXpress empowers small and medium businesses to create high-quality promotional videos without requiring advanced video editing skills. This solution not only enhances the customer experience but also increases conversion rates on e-commerce websites by transforming existing product catalogs into engaging video content.

StoryXpress

Seed Round in 2017
StoryXpress Inc. is a company headquartered in Roselle, Illinois, that specializes in cloud-based video creation tools. Founded in 2017, it offers an API that allows businesses to seamlessly integrate video creation capabilities into their platforms, enabling the conversion of images, text, and video clips into promotional videos. This automation significantly reduces the time and cost associated with traditional video production, which can be prohibitively expensive for many retailers. By providing a web-based DIY application, StoryXpress empowers small and medium businesses to create high-quality promotional videos without requiring advanced video editing skills. This solution not only enhances the customer experience but also increases conversion rates on e-commerce websites by transforming existing product catalogs into engaging video content.

Unreal Estate

Pre Seed Round in 2017
At Abode, they all come to work every day because they want to solve the biggest problem in residential real estate. When you buy a home, it is usually the largest transaction of your life to date and the process is stressful and complicated. Home buyers are required to hire a team of professionals to help them get financing, find the best house, get it insured, manage all of the associated paperwork... The list goes on and on. The way this is currently done is manual and antiquated. Their team learned from personal experience that this process was simply too painful in its current form. They saw enough up close and personal to know that much of the stress and confusion could be solved by creating easy-to-use software to guide everyone in the process and enable buyers and the professionals to collaborate in real-time. Throughout the history of real estate, people have used more and more data to make better decisions. Yet in the past, most of that data has been hard to access or even understand as it was held in the hands of the few. Their mission is to make this data more transparent and easy to understand for everybody (not just real estate agents).

4Degrees

Pre Seed Round in 2017
4Degrees helps professionals build better relationships, and democratize access to social capital - driven by machine learning. The company envisions to equalize opportunity by enabling you to build stronger professional relationships. Its platform identifies the right connections for you to focus on, works with you to strengthen those relationships over time, and helps you activate your network when you need it.

Elemetric

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Elemetric, Inc. provides an API service for the blockchain Internet, which creates a marketplace that bridges data on the Internet and data used in blockchain applications. It offers Elemetric, a data platform for blockchain applications that enables companies with APIs/data feeds to improve their network/monetize their data by listing it on the marketplace to companies building blockchain apps. The company serves various industries to improve the applications built by blockchain developers. Elemetric, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Specless

Seed Round in 2017
A Techstars Chicago 2015 Company Specless empowers publishers and advertisers to evolve beyond standard display ad formats and rich media inventory and begin bringing a more valuable advertising experience to market. Through a proprietary API and creative toolkit, Specless fundamentally separates the specifications of how an ad functions and appears from the creative content itself. This allows publishers to innovate at their own pace by selling differentiated ad formats while simultaneously increasing an advertiser's ability to scale complex creative campaigns across an endless variety of media and platforms.

AddStructure

Seed Round in 2017
AddStructure offer a white-labeled natural language understanding (NLU) platform that Retailers and Brands can use to enable conversational commerce channels. Each day, millions of consumers interact with AddStructure's products: Signal Search, Path, and Scaffold. Applications of their technology range from review summarization (distilling thousands of reviews of a product into digestible pros and cons) to a complete conversational commerce system (chatting with an intelligent digital assistant to find and purchase products).

LogicGate

Seed Round in 2016
LogicGate, Inc. provides enterprise process automation solutions that enable organizations to streamline and manage risk and compliance activities. The company's main offering is an agile platform that allows users to create applications through a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. This platform supports various functions, including enterprise risk management, regulatory change management, compliance management, incident management, and IT security risk management. LogicGate's technology is designed to help businesses address the challenges of disorganized processes, facilitating better collaboration and transparency across the organization. The company's clientele spans multiple industries, including software, fintech, telecommunications, banking, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and energy. Founded in 2015 and based in Chicago, Illinois, LogicGate aims to reduce mission-critical risks and enhance compliance through its innovative solutions.

Fueloyal

Convertible Note in 2016
Fueloyal, Inc. specializes in manufacturing GPS fleet tracking devices and fuel management equipment, with a focus on addressing issues in the trucking industry. Founded in 2015 and based in Bloomingdale, Illinois, the company offers innovative products, including the patented Smart Fuel Cap, which prevents fuel theft and card misuse. This device integrates smart hardware and software to provide trucking companies with comprehensive protection against fuel-related losses. Additionally, the Smart Fuel Cap collects and analyzes data from sensors on trucks, enabling companies to optimize fuel purchases and potentially save up to $950 per truck each month. Fueloyal's solutions encompass GPS tracking and asset tracking, ensuring real-time location monitoring, alerts, and enhanced asset security for fleet operators.

Bright

Convertible Note in 2016
Bright Labs, Inc. provides a SaaS metrics and analytics platform that offers real-time metrics to increase subscription business. It tracks SaaS metrics, such as monthly recurring revenue, average revenue per account, lifetime value, and more. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Wise Apple

Convertible Note in 2016
Wise Apple makes life easier by making lunch better - delivering fresh, custom, pre-packaged, ready-to-serve lunches and snacks directly to your door. The service takes away the daily challenge and stress parents face when planning and packing their children's lunch. Wise Apple lunches are chef-crafted, and kid-approved using the highest quality, nutritious ingredients. The service offers items for a range of preferences including gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free options. Launched in 2016, by Rebecca Sholiton and Nate Cooper, Wise Apple is on a mission to see food through kids eyes, making good-for-you food fun for kids.

LogicGate

Seed Round in 2016
LogicGate, Inc. provides enterprise process automation solutions that enable organizations to streamline and manage risk and compliance activities. The company's main offering is an agile platform that allows users to create applications through a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. This platform supports various functions, including enterprise risk management, regulatory change management, compliance management, incident management, and IT security risk management. LogicGate's technology is designed to help businesses address the challenges of disorganized processes, facilitating better collaboration and transparency across the organization. The company's clientele spans multiple industries, including software, fintech, telecommunications, banking, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and energy. Founded in 2015 and based in Chicago, Illinois, LogicGate aims to reduce mission-critical risks and enhance compliance through its innovative solutions.

PartySlate

Seed Round in 2016
PartySlate, Inc. operates a website for event professionals worldwide. Its platform enables users to browse, search, and save event ideas for weddings, fundraisers, mitzvahs, birthdays, milestones, holidays, corporate events, etc. posted by event professionals; and provides images from decor companies, event planners, caterers, photographers, venues, entertainers, and more. The company also connects users with event professionals. PartySlate, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Jiobit

Convertible Note in 2016
Jiobit is the world's smallest and longest lasting tracking solution. With a Jiobit device and smartphone app, parents (and pet parents) can find their loved ones anywhere: Indoors, outdoors, in over 120 countries and even in multi-level buildings. With weeks of battery life and a durable and discreet design, Jiobit is the world's smallest real-time location tracking product. The mobile app (run through a wireless subscription service) offers the most comprehensive set of monitoring and notification features available on the market. Overall, Jiobit gives parents peace of mind while allowing kids to be kids. The Jiobit team is comprised of seasoned engineers, designers, and marketers with a history of building innovative and disruptive consumer products and businesses. The team has logged a combined 150 patents from previous endeavors and developed and shipped products selling in the millions worldwide. We are proudly headquartered in Chicago, with a development center in Silicon Valley.

AddStructure

Seed Round in 2016
AddStructure offer a white-labeled natural language understanding (NLU) platform that Retailers and Brands can use to enable conversational commerce channels. Each day, millions of consumers interact with AddStructure's products: Signal Search, Path, and Scaffold. Applications of their technology range from review summarization (distilling thousands of reviews of a product into digestible pros and cons) to a complete conversational commerce system (chatting with an intelligent digital assistant to find and purchase products).

HAAS Alert

Seed Round in 2016
HAAS Alert is the leading mobility and smart city data service provider keeping emergency crews, drivers and the public safe through Cellular V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) communication. Drivers and emergency crews use the information to avoid collisions and reduce traffic delays. The HAAS Alert Safety Cloud is a real-time data stream connecting first responders, commercial, municipal, and slow moving fleets with motorists, connected and autonomous vehicles. Connected "smart"​ communities use the service to inform infrastructure, planning and real-time traffic management. The company is currently working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on advanced solutions and has support from leading safety organizations including NSC (National Safety Council), TSR (Together for Safer Roads), FAMA (Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association) and NFPA (National Fire Protection Association).

Hooks

Seed Round in 2016
Hooks Technologies Inc. is a Chicago-based company that specializes in designing and developing a mobile application for iOS. Founded in 2015, its app allows users to discover and create personalized push notifications on a wide range of topics, including television, music, sports, social media, and weather updates. The application is designed to keep users informed about concerts, shows, films, sports scores, lottery results, and even horoscopes, providing a customizable experience tailored to individual interests.

Pearachute

Pre Seed Round in 2016
Drop in to the best kid classes in Chicago! Pearachute is a new way to help your child discover and explore activities that best fit your family’s schedule. From ballet to baseball, Pearachute gives you flexibility and variety - all in one monthly membership.

Hooks

Pre Seed Round in 2015
Hooks Technologies Inc. is a Chicago-based company that specializes in designing and developing a mobile application for iOS. Founded in 2015, its app allows users to discover and create personalized push notifications on a wide range of topics, including television, music, sports, social media, and weather updates. The application is designed to keep users informed about concerts, shows, films, sports scores, lottery results, and even horoscopes, providing a customizable experience tailored to individual interests.

Growth Geeks

Pre Seed Round in 2015
A growth geek is a hired gun. A marketer with skills. The kind of person that can change the trajectory of a business. Millions of companies across the world are trying to grow, and they need growth geeks. If you have mastered some aspect of modern marketing, anything from paid traffic, to content marketing, to social media, to data scraping, to analytics, or anything in between, then you might have what it takes to be a growth geek.

Specless

Seed Round in 2015
A Techstars Chicago 2015 Company Specless empowers publishers and advertisers to evolve beyond standard display ad formats and rich media inventory and begin bringing a more valuable advertising experience to market. Through a proprietary API and creative toolkit, Specless fundamentally separates the specifications of how an ad functions and appears from the creative content itself. This allows publishers to innovate at their own pace by selling differentiated ad formats while simultaneously increasing an advertiser's ability to scale complex creative campaigns across an endless variety of media and platforms.

Glidera

Seed Round in 2015
Glidera makes digital currency wallets better by providing applications the ability to offer bitcoin buy and sell services. Dozens of great wallets and applications now exist with millions of users, yet nearly all do not offer an easy way to obtain bitcoin. Using Glidera’s flexible API, developers can integrate this functionality while Glidera handles the compliance, banking, liquidity, and fraud challenges. Different than all other conversion services, Glidera never holds customer funds and is specifically built to work with user-controlled wallets.

Tribe

Seed Round in 2015
Tribe began as a task manager built for modern, flexible teams. Tribe works naturally in email, mobile, and desktop so that coworkers, clients, and contractors can stay coordinated working in their tool of choice. Currently, we are in beta on a new product for Business Coaches. Learn more about this at https://tribe.do/success

Lightstream

Seed Round in 2015
Lightstream builds live streaming creative tools and technology with a true passion for live video production, gaming and supporting the explosive growth of creators and their communities. Their cloud-based technology and products transform difficult technical hurdles into streamlined workflows – empowering creators to effortlessly share their passion, talent, and creativity on live streaming platforms like Mixer, Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, and more. Since 2014, they have been building a cloud-based live streaming studio with the goal of removing all the technical hurdles and putting advanced production capabilities in the hands of beginners. Today, they have thousands of creators streaming with Lightstream Studio for thousands of hours every day. They have partnered with Microsoft to offer Lightstream Studio to millions of Xbox and Windows streamers as part of the native OS experience – in addition to licensing their technology to major game studios and media companies.

Akouba

Seed Round in 2015
Akouba is a the first SAAS platform to provide community and regional banks with an online, end-to-end, small business lending solutionAkouba is committed to helping financial institutions provide businesses with the capital they need to succeed, in a way that is simple, quick and cost effective for both the bank and the customer.

NexLP

Seed Round in 2014
NexLP, LLC, based in Chicago, Illinois, specializes in predictive intelligence software that transforms electronic data into insightful patterns and narratives. Its primary product, the NexLP Story Engine, is a SaaS solution designed to help users visually identify key players and topics within their data, detect patterns, and understand the context of information. The platform allows users to create profiles for interviews and depositions while identifying critical elements such as money, dates, and organizations. Additionally, NexLP offers an on-premise version called Story Engine I3, which enables data mining and analysis for actionable insights. The company provides various consulting services, including product customization and artificial intelligence model development, primarily serving the legal, security, compliance, and human resources sectors. Founded in 2013, NexLP operates as a subsidiary of Reveal Data Corporation.

SpotHero

Series A in 2014
SpotHero Inc. provides a digital platform for reserving off-street parking in North America, aiming to alleviate urban congestion by streamlining the parking process. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with an additional office in Detroit and operations in Toronto, the company offers a mobile application and website that enable drivers to locate, compare, and book discounted parking spots. Users can easily access information about nearby parking facilities, facilitating a more efficient parking experience and reducing the time spent searching for parking. SpotHero also collaborates with mobility companies to integrate parking solutions into their services, enhancing overall convenience for users.

Tangiblee

Seed Round in 2014
Tangiblee is an eCommerce visualization service based in Chicago, Illinois, that enhances online shopping by allowing retailers to transform their catalogs into interactive experiences. The platform enables customers to visually try on merchandise before making a purchase, thereby improving the online shopping experience. By providing this innovative solution, Tangiblee aims to bridge the gap between physical and digital retail, making it easier for consumers to engage with products in a meaningful way.

Telnyx

Seed Round in 2014
Telnyx is a VoIP telecom service provider, providing a cloud-based platform that offers access to carrier grade voice services over the internet. It is focused on enabling a communication fabric for developers and platforms to integrate voice, messaging, and other forms of communication into their applications and to facilitate that communication universally. Telnyx accepts all outbound traffic profiles, including mission critical conversational traffic, short duration dialer traffic, and high CPS machine generated traffic. It gives its clients the complete control over their outbound termination. Telnyx was founded in 2009.

NexLP

Pre Seed Round in 2014
NexLP, LLC, based in Chicago, Illinois, specializes in predictive intelligence software that transforms electronic data into insightful patterns and narratives. Its primary product, the NexLP Story Engine, is a SaaS solution designed to help users visually identify key players and topics within their data, detect patterns, and understand the context of information. The platform allows users to create profiles for interviews and depositions while identifying critical elements such as money, dates, and organizations. Additionally, NexLP offers an on-premise version called Story Engine I3, which enables data mining and analysis for actionable insights. The company provides various consulting services, including product customization and artificial intelligence model development, primarily serving the legal, security, compliance, and human resources sectors. Founded in 2013, NexLP operates as a subsidiary of Reveal Data Corporation.

Data Everywhere

Seed Round in 2014
Data Everywhere is an add-in that enables spreadsheets to publish individual datasets to other spreadsheets, databases, websites, and mobile devices. It connects existing spreadsheets to a cloud data management service, which provides replication, security, revision control, basic workflow, and search for these applications. The company allows ordinary business users to publish their data to colleagues and outside parties as real data, not just embalmed files, which allows other users to easily remix the data in new ways. By treating Excel as a datasource instead of just as a document, Data Everywhere users can create new kinds of applications that formerly would have required custom development. Data Everywhere was founded by Dan McGee and Dave Bortz in November 2013 and is based in Chicago, Illinois, the United States.

Package Zen

Seed Round in 2014
Package Zen LLC is a mobile application company based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in January 2014. The application provides delivery and package receiving services for offices, apartments, and condominiums. Users can take snapshots of their bills, allowing the software to identify the intended recipient and manage notifications related to the delivery. These notifications include essential delivery details and confirmation instructions, ensuring that the correct individual is informed via email or SMS. Package Zen aims to streamline the process of managing deliveries, making it easier for clients and delivery partners to coordinate package logistics efficiently.

WeDeliver

Seed Round in 2014
WeDeliver connects businesses to their customers by providing same-day delivery of goods, real-time tracking and customer feedback. Using a fleet of curated, on-demand drivers powered by algorithmic dispatching, the company ensures the quickest delivery of any product from any business to any customer at any time.

inRentive

Seed Round in 2014
inRentive is a cloud-based platform for managing multifamily housing listings and vacancy content, including photos, pricing, and specific unit-level availability. The platform is fully integrated with apartments.com and is also integrated with most major property management software. Users can create, add or edit building, model, and unit level listings; create and manage referral campaigns; post ad to Craigslist in under 30 seconds; and utilize the offered advanced analytics, customizable market rent comparison analyzer, advanced user role management, real-time ""Check Availability"" tool for Facebook, and the reputation management tool. inRentive was founded by Josh Childs, Melissa Moline, and Abram Nelson in August 2012 and is based in Chicago, Illinois, the United States.

Kinetic Global

Debt Financing in 2014
LifeLine Response is the most reliable & fastest way to reach emergency responders and notify friends and family when you’re in danger. LifeLine Response provides protection that can change the outcome of a potentially life threatening situation. With patent-pending “touch technology”, it actively monitors your status and automatically notifies the LifeLine Response 24/7 Emergency Response Center when you need assistance. Trained emergency response professionals assess your situation, confirm your GPS location, and notify local authorities. Designated LifeLine contacts such as family, friends, and coworkers are also advised of your location and situation.

Kinetic Global

Pre Seed Round in 2014
LifeLine Response is the most reliable & fastest way to reach emergency responders and notify friends and family when you’re in danger. LifeLine Response provides protection that can change the outcome of a potentially life threatening situation. With patent-pending “touch technology”, it actively monitors your status and automatically notifies the LifeLine Response 24/7 Emergency Response Center when you need assistance. Trained emergency response professionals assess your situation, confirm your GPS location, and notify local authorities. Designated LifeLine contacts such as family, friends, and coworkers are also advised of your location and situation.

Qualia Health

Seed Round in 2014
Qualia Health, Inc. is a Chicago-based company that operates an online platform designed for at-home monitoring of heart failure patients. Founded in 2013, Qualia Health has developed a comprehensive software platform capable of assessing an individual's physical, mental, and social health. This platform allows users to evaluate their health status in comparison to the general population, facilitating a better understanding of their overall well-being. By providing a user-friendly interface, Qualia Health aims to enhance patient engagement and improve health outcomes for individuals managing chronic conditions.

GiveForward

Series A in 2013
GiveForward Inc. owns and operates a Website that provides personalized fundraising Webpages to raise money for loved ones during times of need. It offers GiveForward, a fundraising support system that provides online fundraising pages, allowing friends and family to raise money directly for a loved one when they need it the most. The company helps people raise funds online for various things, such as general medical expenses, chemotherapy, transplants, funeral expenses, and disaster-relief. It provides its online fundraising tools to individuals and non-profit organizations. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. As of March 29, 2017, GiveForward Inc. operates as a subsidiary of YouCaring Dot Com, LLC.

Qualia Health

Pre Seed Round in 2013
Qualia Health, Inc. is a Chicago-based company that operates an online platform designed for at-home monitoring of heart failure patients. Founded in 2013, Qualia Health has developed a comprehensive software platform capable of assessing an individual's physical, mental, and social health. This platform allows users to evaluate their health status in comparison to the general population, facilitating a better understanding of their overall well-being. By providing a user-friendly interface, Qualia Health aims to enhance patient engagement and improve health outcomes for individuals managing chronic conditions.

WebCurfew

Seed Round in 2013
WebCurfew is a cloud-based platform to enable home automation by managing the routers (gateway) that people already have at home… and a simple dashboard to control the experience. The first application is an “Internet Parental Control” service that allows parents to take back control over when and how their children access the internet from any connected device. It replaces the antiquated device-centric model of managing parental controls on individual devices, and provides a simple solution by managing the central point of all WiFi internet access in the home – the router.

AdYapper

Seed Round in 2013
AdYapper, Inc. operates a comprehensive platform designed to enhance advertising effectiveness by providing real-time feedback on commercials. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with an additional office in New York, the company specializes in tracking display and mobile ads, offering detailed verification data, consumer sentiment analysis, and viewability monitoring for a vast majority of ad impressions. AdYapper centralizes this data within its platform, enabling advertisers to identify wasted ad spend and make informed decisions on reallocating resources throughout their campaigns. The tools provided by AdYapper facilitate direct audience engagement, allow for the submission of new advertisements, and transform television marketing into an inbound marketing opportunity, ultimately making advertising performance data actionable and optimizing ad efficacy.

MentorMob

Seed Round in 2013
What if Google provided a path through the best content to learn from so learners don't need to search anymore? MentorMob eliminates the need to search by providing crowd-curation of the best free content to learn from with a step-by-step path for any topic.

Project Fixup

Seed Round in 2013
Project Fixup, a Techstars startup, is making the process of meeting someone new as easy as ordering an Uber by curating fun and convenient dates at the click of a button. How it works: Once a prospective member is approved by a fixup specialist, we use a combination of humans and technology to find a like-minded person and coordinate a great location and convenient time for the two to meet. Members just click to confirm and meet someone with similar interests over a drink. Research has shown that there's no magic algorithm to predict compatibility and back and forth messaging, while occasionally entertaining, is also time consuming and inefficient. We are bringing the human element back into dating by helping people connect the right way - by meeting in person and seeing if there's a

FindIt

Seed Round in 2013
FindIt is the easiest way to find emails and files across your cloud accounts using your smartphone. Search in a visual way using people, timing, and file types. Search Gmail, Google Drive, and Dropbox at the same time!