| Although Chicago’s startup scene is typically off the national radar, it’s quite vibrant. I’ve assembled a list of more than 50 Chicago area startups including well established players such as 37signals to new startups still in private beta.
Updated: 9/15/2009 (Added Appolicious & FanHistory) |
| Startup | Description |
| 37signals | We build easy to use web-based products with elegant interfaces and thoughtful features. We’re focused on executing on the basics beautifully. |
| Appolicious | Appolicious is the place to discover iPhone and other mobile applications that make the most sense for you. – new |
| AudioSnacks | AudioSnacks.com is a place to find, purchase and download audio tours that people just like you have created to share, and a place where you can do the same for others. |
| Buqoo | |
| CallPod | Callpod is a creator of innovative mobile devices and software. We produce award-winning power products, wireless headsets, mobile conferencing systems and mobile software applications for professionals. |
| Cameesa | Crowdfunding Fashion: financially supporting your favorite designs to be printed on T-shirts. |
| Cappex | Cappex.com helps students find their college match. Through tools like the Cappex profile, private college message center and “What Are My Chances?” Calculator, Cappex helps students learn about college opportunities they may have otherwise missed. |
| Cleversafe | Cleversafe enables the world to confidently and cost-effectively store and distribute limitless amounts of data. |
| CohesiveFT | Cohesive FT provides onboarding solutions for virtual and cloud computing infrastructures |
| CollegePeaks | |
| CouponTweet | CouponTweet searches Twitter for the best deals and discounts, so you don’t have to. You can use CouponTweet to find the best discounts on everything from clothing to electronics on twitter. |
| CraftedFun | Crafted Fun is focused on creating online game-play experiences that mimic the social excitement of board games, but in a new form. We’re not reproducing board games in an online environment; we’re creating a new type of online entertainment that combines the best of both experiences. |
| CrowdSpring | crowdSPRING is a little company with big dreams based in Chicago – one of the greatest cities in the world. Founded by Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Samson, crowdSPRING was started to help people from around the world access creative talent, and to help creatives from across the globe find new customers. |
| Dawdle | Dawdle is the gamer’s online marketplace – we make it as easy as possible to buy and sell all of your games, systems, and accessories online. We’re built from the ground up for gaming, with a 100% guarantee on all of your transactions. |
| EarthComber | Earthcomber provides free software, maps, and info, and also sells some name-brand mobile guides. |
| EveryBlock | We aim to collect all of the news and civic goings-on that have happened recently in your city, and make it simple for you to keep track of news in particular areas. We’re a geographic filter “a news feed” for your neighborhood, or, yes, even your block. |
| eWoFF | eWoFF is a quiet place to stay connected with the people you care about. Here you won’t be bothered by the noise of people you don’t know. |
| fyindout | FYIndOut is the central place for professionals to find and promote business applications and services. |
| FanHistory | Fan History is a fan run wiki that anyone can edit! It’s dedicated to documenting the history of fandom. – new |
| Fave | Fave is building an internet community to help local businesses successfully promote themselves |
| Groupon | Groupon is a deal a day site for Chicago. We find the unbeatable deals on fun stuff to do and buy in and around Chicago. |
| GiveForward | With GiveForward, you can create a personal fundraising page for ANY person, cause or non-profit you care about and then easily collect donations from friends and family all over the world. – new |
| GrubHub | Web site for users to find out who delivers to their exact addresses. When users type in their address on GrubHub.com, the site displays all of the restaurants that deliver to that location, with the appropriate hours for delivery, full menus, available coupons, reviews and star ratings. |
| Humanized | The company is dedicated to the belief that good interfaces make computers more pleasant and productive for the people who use them. |
| Inadco | nadco is a platform for Cost-Per-Lead advertising. Inadco enables advertisers of all kinds to buy media on a Cost-Per-Lead basis. – new |
| Inkling | Inkling is a Chicago-based company that helps organizations and individuals tap into the collective wisdom of their employees, peers, and customers to improve forecasting processes, predict key corporate metrics, identify promising future innovations, and forge new communication and collaboration channels. |
| Job Coin | a service for employers to post jobs and reach millions of passive job seekers by targeting them on the websites they already visit and for website publishers to earn revenue by easily including relevant job listings on their site. |
| Kirix | We think data should be a lot easier to use. In fact, we believe that working with data should actually be an enjoyable experience. So, to that end, we’ve developed a data browser that attempts to combat the issues surrounding data usability. |
| LifeShadow | a venture-funded startup located near Chicago, IL. Composed of a team of technology industry veterans, including the Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of InstallShield Software Corporation, we’re currently operating in stealth mode and developing products for the consumer market. |
| LifeSnapz | LifeSnapz is a free, easy and secure way for people to record and organize important events, milestones and memories in their lives. |
| Mediafly | Mediafly is your source for video and audio personalized channels including podcasts and more… delivered to virtually any media-enabled device. |
| Menuism | Menuism is the social network for people who love to visit restaurants. Interact with local foodies over plate-by-plate reviews and pictures. |
| Metroproper | |
| Mpayy | Mpayy was created specifically to meet the unique payment needs of Internet and Mobile commerce. |
| Naymz | Our innovative professional networking platform allows people to find and discover new connections, opportunities, ideas, and information based on their backgrounds and reputations. |
| Newser | Newser is an online news service that adds human intelligence to machine-driven aggregation. We search for the best stories all over the web, read them, and deliver succinct, sharply written summaries in a grid format that features photos, video and audio, and links to the original source. |
| NextPoint | NextPoint enables corporations and law firms to increase litigation performance while reducing costs |
| ParkWhiz | We help people park their cars quickly and efficiently by providing them with the tools to make an informed decision. Instead of driving around to find parking, you can use ParkWhiz to get the best parking to suit your needs. |
| PeerSight | PeerSight brings ambitious entrepreneurs together – 8 at a time in peer advisory boards that deliver real world results. |
| PeopleFilter | PeopleFilter is a web-based Applicant Tracking and Hiring Optimization solution that allows for rapid identification and ranking of the most qualified candidates based on employer-defined job descriptions. |
| PerkSpot | PerkSpot manages employee discount programs on behalf of leading employers. Our expertise in employee benefits, rewards, marketing, insurance, and technology allows us to create a customized and complete turn-key solution for our clients. |
| Planypus | Planypus Platform is an embedded event wiki for your website. Turn your static site into an interactive destination for socialization around events. Let your users invite their friends to talk about events and attract more users who visit more often, stay on site longer, and develop brand loyalty. |
| Prepme | PrepMe is a premium test preparation company dedicated to bringing high-quality, customized learning to students across the world. We make customized test preparation affordable and accessible while providing highly impactful results and learning for our students and their families. |
| PriceAdvance | PriceAdvance provides an easy way to compare prices while you shop, with the most accurate product matches. |
| Restaurant | Restaurant.com connects restaurant seekers and food lovers to savings at more than 9,000 restaurants nationwide and to various online retailers. |
| ShopLocal | Our smart online strategies customize and mobilize your local messages for strategic placement anywhere on the Web to drive online and in-store sales. |
| SitterCity | Helps connect parents with caregivers in their area to give each side what they want – some time off for adults-only activities and access to a multitude of child and pet care jobs. |
| Songza | Songza provides an easy way to search for, stream and share any song. For free. To help keep your music fresh and portable, you can add any songs to your Songza playlist, which you can access from any computer, any time when you Join Songza. |
| SwapSimple | By eliminating the need to buy and sell, SwapSimple.com’s exchange solution gives its users a modern, effective, and lower cost alternative to purchasing the used textbooks, general literature, DVDs, and video games they desire. |
| Tappity | Tappity is a user driven site where you discover, rate, and suggest mobile-friendly web pages for viewing on phones and PDAs. |
| Text 2 Store | No need to print or cut out coupons, get free coupons to your cell phone! |
| TextHog | Texthog is a really simple way to track expenses and create expense reports online. When you create an account, you’re given a unique texthog email address to use for posting transactions on the go. By adding this address as a contact in your cell phone, you can send text messages or emails with expenses directly to your account. |
| tgethr | An easy collaboration tool for your group. Tgethr is the best way to communicate with your small group. Share files, track conversations, manage your group like a champ. – new |
| ThePoint | The Point lets anyone start a campaign asking people to give money or do something as a group, but only if the campaign hits a predetermined tipping point. |
| Think or Swim | thinkorswim offers online brokerage, investor education and related financial products and services for self-directed investors and active traders. |
| Time Xchange | timeXchange simplifies the way people collaborate to do time reporting. Each member of a project team has his or her own account which is identified by a unique email address. |
| txtful | Txtful allows you to use any messaging option available on your mobile phone (e-mail, IM, text, tweet) to run preset actions on the web. You can create shortcuts for the stuff you do most often, and you’ve got the power to trigger even the most complex functions anytime, no matter where you are. |
| uSphere | Our system does more for students than just help them find the right colleges and universities for them — we help get their application in front of those schools. Great schools with great programs that want the right type of student on campus |
| U Want Savings | We buy perfectly new and unharmed overstocked items at an unspeakably low price. Then, we offer them to you at a much lower price than any store would ever dare. |
| Viewpoints | Viewpoints Network is a social media company focused on helping consumers make smarter decisions. We specialize in building communities and motivating “social influencers” to share their experiences by writing reviews, blog posts, how to guides and participating in forums. |
| Web Vet | An interactive and comprehensive “whole-pet†platform that addresses both the physical and emotional needs of pets. |
| Where Ive Been | Where I’ve Been, providers a popular travel application which has become a profile must on Facebook, Bebo, hi5, Friendster, and MySpace, with over 4.5 million users worldwide. |
| WinkVid | WinkVid is the newest way to meet nearby singles through safe, authentic and fun online speed-dating. – new |
| Zaplee | Zaplee enables small to medium sized businesses implement call centers without the need for expensive software, services, and infrastructure. |
If you know of any startups I’ve missed, drop me a note.
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:58 pm
John,
Thanks for listing us.
Chicago definitely has a vibrant community that has picked up over the last few years. It’s also interesting to note that PrepMe (along with quite a few other startups on your list) have deep connections and offices outside of Chicago. Unlike NYC or Silicon Valley a lot of Chicago startups have a multi-city view and often have different functional offices in multiple locations.
It’s a unique type of way to run a startup and seems more common in Chicago.
Avichal
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:19 am
Cool. Thanks for listing us. I definitely agree with Avichal about the multi-city view. We have people on the ground in San Francisco, Boston, New York, and Philly now.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Hey John,
Thanks for listing us as well as all of the other great companies in Chicago. We appreciate it.
Scott
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Its great to see the Chicago startup scene growing and more importantly thriving. Thanks to FYIndOut, GrubHub & Avichal for commenting.
June 8th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
8 June 2009 – TimeXchange.net has improved its commerce and collaboration network for people who work in virtual project teams reporting. Version 3.0 was launched last week and includes a simplified navigation and new features such as a timer for project tasks and a more robust tracking of time submitted for approval. Version 3.0 was launched last week and includes a simplified navigation and new features such as a timer for project tasks and a more robust tracking of time submitted for approval. Additional third-party affiliates with tools such as mobile companion devices were also announced. Additional third-party affiliates with tools such as mobile companion devices were also announced.
September 16th, 2009 at 10:31 am
John -
Solid list, it will be exciting getting the founders of many of these startups together to start to build out the Chicago startup community from the ground up!
Cheers.
Ryan
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Chicago is a very vibrant technology community. Unfortunately, not many people around the rest of the country know that fact. I have received some good guidance from Fred Hoch and the Illinois Technology Association. This is my second startup.
Uwantsavings.com is an idea that came out of the Entrepreneurship program at Northern Illinois University and was funded by another YPO member, the former CIO of Greenbrier and Russel and myself.
We do have the lowest prices on the internet because we buy direct from the manufacturers and warehouse our products in a 420,000 square foot facility in River Grove (near the airport).
Thanks for listing us. Business is heading in the right direction in a very difficult economy.
Eric