New in Chicago Startups: Here's a service to help you set up an office
SpaceHQ co-founder Lekan Bashua
SpaceHQ, a startup based at 1871, aims to help other startups set up offices and working spaces. “If you have 50 employees, based on the questions we ask, we figure out: Should 10 of them be in a private office? Should the rest of them have a more collaborative space to brainstorm?” says Terrand Bashua, who co-founded SpaceHQ with her husband, Lekan Bashua.
Once those decisions are made, SpaceHQ says it simplifies the process of filling that space with the necessary furniture and technology. “You pay us, and we will procure furniture, technology and service providers,” Lekan Bashua says. Though SpaceHQ charges for these services, it seeks discounts from furniture companies and other suppliers, keeping down the cost for its clients, he says.
SpaceHQ incorporated in November and started offering its services with a soft launch last month. “We both come from a background of working in the contract furniture world,” Terrand Bashua says. “We're trying to solve the problem of making this process a lot more simple.”
Candid Cup, a startup based at 1871, offers companies a way of receiving anonymous feedback at conferences and live events. Candid Cup creates online mobile comment boxes where people can leave comments up to 140 characters long, similar to a tweet. Audience members use an app to share what they like or don't like, and Candid Cup measures that feedback—turning the audience into an “instant focus group.” Candid Cup President Thomas K.R. Stovall is also launching a yearlong business education series called Black in Tech for minority founders of tech startups. The first event will be at 6 p.m. July 22 at 1871. For details, see BlackInTech.eventbrite.com.
Once those decisions are made, SpaceHQ says it simplifies the process of filling that space with the necessary furniture and technology. “You pay us, and we will procure furniture, technology and service providers,” Lekan Bashua says. Though SpaceHQ charges for these services, it seeks discounts from furniture companies and other suppliers, keeping down the cost for its clients, he says.
SpaceHQ incorporated in November and started offering its services with a soft launch last month. “We both come from a background of working in the contract furniture world,” Terrand Bashua says. “We're trying to solve the problem of making this process a lot more simple.”
Candid Cup
Candid Cup, a startup based at 1871, offers companies a way of receiving anonymous feedback at conferences and live events. Candid Cup creates online mobile comment boxes where people can leave comments up to 140 characters long, similar to a tweet. Audience members use an app to share what they like or don't like, and Candid Cup measures that feedback—turning the audience into an “instant focus group.” Candid Cup President Thomas K.R. Stovall is also launching a yearlong business education series called Black in Tech for minority founders of tech startups. The first event will be at 6 p.m. July 22 at 1871. For details, see BlackInTech.eventbrite.com.
