Technori Takes Equity
Investment to Launch Technori Co-op, a Non-Traditional Startup Incubator
Focused on Disrupting how Startups are Launched and Funded
·
DV Partners, led by SMS Assist
Founder and Chairman Mike Rothman, today announced a seven figure investment in
Chicago's largest and most active startup platform, Technori. The funds will be
used to expand its successful podcast show and event series, and to launch
Technori Co-op, an entirely new startup incubator and investment platform.
"Nothing
is more important to the growth and health of a startup community than the
people who work tirelessly to identify, connect and positively promote the key
players,"
CHICAGO
(PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
DV Partners, led by SMS Assist Founder
and Chairman Mike Rothman, today announced a seven figure investment in
Chicago's largest and most active startup platform, Technori.
The funds will be used to expand its successful podcast show and event series,
and to launch Technori Co-op, an entirely new startup incubator and investment
platform.
Technori helps startups gain traction by
engaging with thousands of would-be investors, customers, and commercial
partners such as, MB Real Estate, Bank of America, and
Salesforce, through highly curated events and media. The Startup Showcase is one of the largest quarterly
tech events in the U.S, and the first ever to allow attendees to invest
directly in the presenting startups, via an exclusive partnership with Title
III equity crowdfunding platform, Republic. Technori is also the creator of Chicago's most
popular tech podcast and live radio show, hosted by its CEO Scott Kitun
on WGN Radio.
To date, Technori has helped hundreds of
companies raise more than $1 billion in venture capital and connect with
thousands of first employees and customers by featuring founders on-stage at
Showcase events, and in-studio at WGN Radio.
"Nothing is more important
to the growth and health of a startup community than the people who work
tirelessly to identify, connect and positively promote the key players,"
former 1871 CEO
and current Illinois Tech Kaplan Institute Executive
Director Howard Tullman said. "Scott has been one of the most important,
consistent and valuable contributors to the tech scene in more ways and for
more years than he's willing to admit and it's a big part of Chicago's
success."
Rothman's investment in Technori is
about accelerating and supporting Technori's mission of building the largest
and most diverse tech community in the world, but it's also about helping
startups gain access to strategic capital and connections - something Rothman
has plenty of experience with.
As former CEO of SMS Assist, Mike
Rothman raised several
hundred million dollars for the company - at over a billion
dollar valuation - from the likes of Goldman Sachs and Chicago-based Pritzker
Group, among others.
"Technori has done an incredible
job of providing founders like myself with exposure. But, there's a huge
opportunity to make an even bigger impact on the startup community,"
Rothman said. "That's why I've partnered with Scott to extend the Technori
services model to introduce the most innovative early stage incubation tool,
called Technori Co-op."
Technori Co-op is an investment model
that provides early-stage companies access to capital, board support and
strategic advisory while enabling the founders to own a stake in the portfolio.
"We work to democratize how
startups are launched and funded by allowing founders to use our exposure to
equity crowdfund," says Technori CEO Scott Kitun. "The Co-op takes
the best of those founders and gives them access to some of the most successful
entrepreneurs and investors our tech community has to offer."
Initial Co-op advisors include, Lightbank Managing
Partner Vic Pascucci, Blue1647 founder Emile Cambry, and Fanatics VP
of Engineering Nate Lyman, among other influential tech leaders.
"Scott and Mike are visionaries.
How this democratizes the startup process is incredible and I'm excited to be a
part of it," said Pascucci.
"DV Partners has already made
significant investments in tech startups, such as Dumbstruck, Residential Homes Group (RHG),
and Theron Technology Solutions(TTS). And I'm
sure whether we invest through DVP or launch a Technori Fund; we plan to deploy
a lot more capital into disruptive technology companies," said Rothman.
"But, speaking as a founder, the most valuable commodity is information -
and we plan to use that to grow the value of our Co-op companies
immediately."
TTS builds enterprise technology
solutions that identify and improve operational efficiencies; founded by former
SMS Assist Chief Product Officer Alex Rothman, Theron will also be
participating in the Technori Co-op to provide portfolio companies with tech
support.
"I learned very early on at SMS,
it's not how fast you can build something, but how accurately you align it with
a Go-To-Market strategy," said Alex Rothman. "Theron is here to share
our industry expertise and offer founders what they'll need to build at
scale."
According to Kitun, "this
investment not only enables us to enter new markets and introduce the Technori
Co-op, but also significantly grow our team, and develop the technology
necessary to better reach our growing target audience."
For more information about applying for
Technori Co-op, visit Technori.com, or follow and message directly
through Facebook.
OTHER TECHNORI NEWS
Technori will now host its premier
Startup Showcase events quarterly, with monthly lunch and learn workshops and
founder's dinners - with an eye on expanding into new markets with pop-up
events in 2019.
