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Wednesday, February 18, 2015
HIGHLIGHTS | Chicago Is Now a Tech Destination - 347,100 high-tech jobs
Chicago’s growing talent base and strong support resources make it a highly attractive location for tech businesses as it stakes its place on the global tech scene.
Chicago is on the rise as a magnet for high-tech job seekers. According to a survey conducted by the University of Minnesota, the state of Illinois has the sixth-largest high-tech economy in the United States. The Chicago metropolitan area has 347,100 high-tech jobs, beating San Francisco, Boston and Seattle. i
With deep roots in the manufacturing industry, Chicago has transformed itself in recent years to be a strong business climate for digital and tech ventures. This transformation has been driven by the growth of some highly visible tech startups based in the city. For example, Groupon, Inc. a daily deal coupon website, was founded and is hosted in Chicago. Grubhub, Inc. an online and mobile food ordering company based in Chicago, has expanded into more than 800 US cities as well as in London.
What makes the city so attractive to tech businesses, especially promising startups? A growing talent base and strong pool of resources. Take, for example, 1871: Chicago’s incubator for tech community entrepreneurs. Since opening in 2012, 1871 has been so successful that in October 2014, it announced an expansion into the areas of food tech, education tech, financial tech, the Industrial Internet of Things, and veteran- and women-owned startups.
The high-tech and entrepreneurial resource pool is supplied by several universities in the Chicago area, including Northwestern, DePaul, University of Chicago and Northern Illinois. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides the fifth-best undergraduate engineering program in the country. According to GradSpot LLC, Chicago is the No. 1 city for recent graduates. ii
With a strong and growing talent pool, and resources in place such as incubators and venture capital, Chicago is an appealing destination for established tech companies and startups alike – one Accenture believes will continue to grow and thrive as a digital hub.
Chicago appeals to Millennials as a metropolitan area that promises job opportunity. A vibrant cultural center, the city is home to a wide variety of festivals, including Lollapalooza, one of the largest and longest-running music festivals in the nation. What really sets Chicago apart as the next Silicon Valley is its Midwestern culture. For both high-tech talent and companies, that is an appealing draw—one that helps position Chicago as a tech destination of choice.
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i Martin, Tracy, “Is Chicago the Next Silicon Valley?”, Blackline Review, http://blacklinereview.com/is-chicago-the-next-silicon-valley/ accessed December 5, 2014.
ii “Make Your Mark: 10 Reasons Recent Grads Choose to Start a Career in Chicago”, World Business Chicago, http://www.worldbusinesschicago.com/make-your-mark/explore-innovative-culture accessed December 5, 2014.
January 14, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Chicago Startup inRentive Is Heading to Google HQ to Pitch Top Investors
Chicago Startup inRentive Is Heading to Google HQ to Pitch Top Investors
A Chicago startup was selected by Google for Entrepreneurs to pitch venture capitalists and other notable tech figures at the organization's second annual Demo Day.
inRentive, a platform for real estate professionals to help them manage listings and quickly post ads to sites like Craigslist and Facebook, was selected to compete in the 2015 Google for Entrepreneurs North American Tech Hub Network Demo Day. Last year Chicago startups MarkITx and WeDeliver each won $100,000 investments from Steve Case at the inaugural event.
inRentive and the other North American startups selected will be at Google headquarters pitching investors from March 31 through April 2.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to pitch our business at this year’s Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day,” inRentive CEO Melissa Moline said in a news release. “inRentive’s property management system provides an important new tool for the real estate industry, and we look forward to highlighting 1871 and Chicago’s innovative startup ecosystem as we showcase our platform.”
1871-based inRentive helps property managers create ads across a variety of real estate listing websites, in turn saving those companies time and reducing vacancies. inRentive integrates with a property’s management software and imports pricing and other information like location, date available, photos and floor plans, and allows managers to easily post ads to Craigslist, social media sites, and other rental websites.
“I first spent time with the inRentive team in London during Tech Week in Shoreditch, where we visited Google’s new London co-working space," 1871 CEO Howard Tullman added. "Google for Entrepreneurs has been an incredible partner, and their North American Tech Hub Network continues to provide unique opportunities to 1871’s member companies."
GOOGLE FOR ENTREPRENEURS SELECTS 1871 COMPANY - iNRENTIVE - FOR MOUNTAIN VIEW COMPETITION
Google for Entrepreneurs Selects 1871
Member Company inRentive to Pitch at 2015 Demo Day
1871 member company inRentive will
compete in the second annual Demo Day for the Google for Entrepreneurs North
American Tech Hub Network
CHICAGO (February 17, 2015) — Google for
Entrepreneurs announced
today that inRentive, an 1871 member company that helps leasing agents more
effectively list rental properties, will compete in the 2015 Google for
Entrepreneurs North American Tech Hub Network Demo Day. inRentive and other companies
selected from across the network will travel to Google Headquarters in April to
pitch their businesses to top investors.
"1871 is constantly working to curate resources and
create opportunities that help our member companies succeed,” said 1871 CEO
Howard A. Tullman. “I first spent time with the inRentive team in London during
Tech Week in Shoreditch, where we visited Google’s new London co-working space.
Google for Entrepreneurs has been an incredible partner, and their North
American Tech Hub Network continues to provide unique opportunities to 1871’s
member companies. We wish inRentive the best of luck as they make their pitch
at this year’s Demo Day, and we will be there to cheer them on.”
Google for Entrepreneurs selected technology startups from
across North America to compete in their second annual Demo Day. These startups
will travel to California from March 31 through April 2, where they will pitch
their businesses to venture capitalists and other leaders in the technology
industry. Each of the competing startups is required to be headquartered in the
United States and actively raising a Series A between one million and four
million dollars. Last year, 1871 member companies MarkITx and WeDeliver each
won $100,000 investments from Steve Case for their pitches.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to pitch our
business at this year’s Google for Entrepreneurs Demo Day,” said Melissa
Moline, co-founder and CEO of inRentive. “inRentive’s property management
system provides an important new tool for the real estate industry, and we look
forward to highlighting 1871 and Chicago’s innovative startup ecosystem as we showcase
our platform.”
inRentive is a marketing content management platform that
allows managers of rental properties to effectively list information about their
properties. inRentive integrates with existing property management software and
imports pricing and availability information. The platform then gives managers
tools to easily and quickly build up information on their properties, including
floor plan-specific photo capture, powerful editing tools, and SEO-friendly
photo tagging. After the property information is collected, inRentive provides powerful
self-publishing tools to control the flow of information to rental websites and
listing services. inRentive also facilitates publishing to channels like
Facebook and Craigslist, creating a central place for property managers to
control their marketing information. inRentive joined 1871 via Techstars, one
of 1871’s top accelerator partners.
In September 2013, Google for Entrepreneurs launched a
network of partnerships with eight coworking and accelerator spaces around
North America. In addition to 1871 in Chicago, the network now includes
incubators in Austin, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Montreal, Nashville,
Raleigh-Durham and Waterloo. Created to help local startup communities thrive,
the Google for Entrepreneurs network assists tech hubs by providing them with
technical content, business tools, and infrastructure upgrades so that they can
support increasing demand from developers and startups.
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 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.
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