1871 AND MICROSOFT VENTURES ANNOUNCE THE PARTICIPATION OF 1871 MEMBER COMPANIES IN THE SEATTLE MICROSOFT VENTURES ACCELERATOR PROGRAM
1871 Member Companies
ClearContact and ParkNav will Benefit from the Mentor-Driven
Four-Month Program
Focused on Digital Works
CHICAGO
(March 24, 2015)—1871,
Chicago’s entrepreneurial
hub for digital startups, and Microsoft Ventures are proud to announce the
selection of 1871 member companies ClearContract and ParkNav to participate in
the digital work-themed Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in Seattle, Washington
this spring.
The
Microsoft Ventures team hosted open houses around the country with the purpose
of attracting digital startups to apply for the four-month accelerator program.
Leveraging the extensive partnership between 1871 and Microsoft Ventures, they
hosted a Chicago open house at the digital startup incubator in The Merchandise
Mart. During this open house, seven local startups had the opportunity to pitch
their businesses to a sold-out crowd of investors, entrepreneurs, and the
Microsoft Ventures team. This, according to the team, was the best-attended
event nation wide, with a greater outcome than all other open houses combined.
“Our primary goal at 1871 is to
help Chicago’s best digital designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs succeed in
creating sustainable businesses,”
said 1871 CEO, Howard A. Tullman. “With partners like Microsoft Ventures, we are able to
provide exciting opportunities that deliver meaningful, long-term benefits to
our members as well as the larger Chicago tech community.”
“The focus of our accelerator program
is to help entrepreneurs build great companies,” said Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in
Seattle Director, Mukund Mohan. “Leveraging
our partnerships, we are able to
provide direct support to the best
entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country, and the world. As a startup hub,
1871 embodies Chicago’s natural drive to innovate in the
digital age and Microsoft Ventures’ determination to foster great technology in
business.”
The
Seattle Microsoft Ventures accelerator program kicked off on March 16, and will
end on July 16 with a demo day. With a digital works theme, the accelerator
will focus on enterprise solutions, productivity, and B2B solutions while
implementing Microsoft technology to the participating businesses. Besides
Chicago-based ClearContract and ParkNav, companies from Michigan, New York,
California, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and Canada are also part of the
program.
"We could not ask for a
better partner in growing and scaling our business than Microsoft Ventures,” said ClearContract COO,
Kyle Cushing. “We’re extremely excited to collaborate with the other fantastic
companies in the program, and also to leverage the breadth of talent within the
Microsoft ecosystem to help us bring ClearContract to businesses across the
globe."
“Being selected for the program means
not only that we are able to work together with other amazing companies and
talented people, but also receiving tutelage from the folks at Microsoft to
help us take ParkNav to the next level,” said ParkNav VP of Business
Development, Gerhard Boiciuc.
ClearContract
is a technology that makes it painless to distribute, negotiate, sign, file,
and manage contractual agreements so that dealmakers can eliminate risk and
spend more time closing.
ParkNav is a technology that helps drivers reduce the time they spend searching for available street parking. The technology is predictive and uses big data, crowdsourcing, and machine learning to help drivers save 50 percent of their search time and reduce pollution in our cities.
About 1871
1871 is the home of more than 325
early-stage, high-growth digital startups. Located in The Merchandise Mart,
this 75,000 square foot facility is also the headquarters of nationally
recognized accelerators, Techstars Chicago and Impact Engine; half a dozen
industry-specific incubators in key areas such as real estate, education
technology, food and financial technology; several emerging tech talent schools
(The Starter League, CodeFellows, Flatiron, The Fullbridge Program,
Designation, and the Startup Institute), and the state's leading technology
advocate, the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition. It is the second home
to Chicago-based VCs, Pritzker Group, MATH Ventures, Hyde Park Angels, OCA
Ventures, OurCrowd and Chicago Ventures, as well as satellite offices for
Northwestern University, University of Illinois, University of Chicago, Loyola
University, Illinois Institute of Technology, and DeVry. 1871 has fast become
recognized as the hub for the city’s
entrepreneurial/technology ecosystem and has been featured in TechCrunch, Wall
Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business among other top media. 1871 is the flagship project
of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center.
About
Microsoft Ventures
Microsoft Ventures is a global initiative to help
entrepreneurs build great companies. We work with startups at every stage of
maturity to provide the tools, resources, and expertise they need to succeed.
The initiative is broad-based, and includes a community program, accelerators,
and a seed fund. Our approach helps startups scale their business, bring
innovative services to market and reach new customers.