Two Chicago startups win at Google demo day
Steve Case
Two Chicago startups that traveled to Silicon Valley yesterday to pitch to investors at Google Inc.'s demo day already are $100,000 richer for it, thanks to AOL Inc. founder Steve Case.
Mr. Case, who heads Washington-based venture fund Revolution Ventures, agreed to invest $100,000 in each of the 10 companies that pitched at the Google For Entrepreneurs event. Among them were Chicago-based MarkITx, an online exchange for used computer gear, and WeDeliver, an online-delivery service that uses an on-demand workforce. It remains to be seen if Google or others from demo day decide to invest.
Both companies got their starts at 1871, the tech incubator at the Merchandise Mart. MarkITx already has raised $3.3 million; WeDeliver has taken in $800,000.