Have you ever wondered exactly why they call Chicago the "City of Big Shoulders"? It‘s not just about the broad-shouldered 1940s personalities like journalists Mike Royko and Studs Terkel. It also nods to the city‘s legacy as an industrial powerhouse and literal "heavy lifter" of innovation spanning well over a century.
From engineering advances and manufacturing prowess…to iconic Chicago tech companies that rose and fell with the tides of change…this iconic Midwest metropolis has shouldered the weight of American business evolution decade after decade.
And in 2022, this heritage continues with Chicago catalyzing a new generation of tech leaders. Top VCs are funding Illinois entrepreneurs building global solutions in software, AI, clean energy, space tech, food and agriculture, healthcare, transportation and much more.
So come build your knowledge as we dive deep into the unsung history of technology and innovation thriving right in Illinois‘ backyard!
Chicago‘s Enduring Status as a Bonafide Tech Hub
You may think Silicon Valley when hearing "tech innovation" today, as the epicenter of bleeding-edge technologies and startup funding for the past few decades. But Chicago and Illinois have cultivated their own bustling community of research institutions, corporate R&D labs, technology talent and VC deals propelling new ventures year after year:
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Homegrown tech giants and Fortune 500 corporations like Boeing, Walgreens, ULTA Beauty and Caterpillar operate HQs just outside Chicago, running large-scale engineering, supply chain and analytics operations in the metro area.
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The region is ranked one of the top 5 tech talent hubs in North America by CBRE with a deep pool of grads from outfits like Northwestern, UChicago, and UIUC feeding innovative companies.
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Venerable local institutions like 1871 and MATTER have incubated over 800 early-stage startups in recent years, while funds like Chicago Ventures provide angel and venture funding tailored to area entrepreneurs.
And the innovation fruits seeded in Illinois are ripening fast, as new ventures gain steam on emerging technologies…while local corporate giants cement Chicago‘s place as a global nexus between industry and infrastructure innovation.
First we‘ll explore some rising hometown startup heroes you need to know in 2022. Then we‘ll profile a pair of established but often overlooked technology pioneers born right in the Land of Lincoln decades ago. Let‘s get started!
Hot Tech Startups Hatched in Illinois Recently
We‘ll kick things off with the most exciting and rapidly-scaling tech ventures that launched their HQ right here in Illinois just in the past 5 years. These startups collectively paint the picture of Chicago‘s vibrant incubation ecosystems breeding revolutionary ideas into global solutions proving tech leadership starts at home:
Uptake Technologies – The Industrial AI Behemoth Born in Illinois
| Year Founded | Total Funding | Latest Valuation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $285M | $2.275B | Chicago, IL |
When you consider most AI and predictive analytics software today focuses inward for business intelligence visibility, Uptake flips the switch to focus outward.
Since 2014, this Chicago-created heavyweight industrial AI firm has attracted over $250M in funding to deliver visibility AND certainty for the largest transportation, energy, manufacturing and distribution operations across infrastructure industries.
Now valued at well over $2B based on a recent funding round, Uptake leverages complex data science to model both equipment performance AND external risk factors that may disrupt operations or asset health. The result? Optimal planning and maintenance at immense scale for the operator‘s context – all while improving safety, sustainability and profit.
Uptake now monitors millions of assets across every continent. After two key acquisitions in 2021, the company appointed new Chief Technology, Product and Data & Analytics officers in 2022…so despite already analyzing one trillion data points daily, their aspirations still trend skyward!
Chowbus Delivers Hypergrowth Bringing Asian Cuisine to Your Doorstep
| Year Founded | Total Funding | Latest Valuation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $118M | Unknown | Chicago, IL |
We all get tempted to just default to the big national brands when ordering takeout. But specialty food delivery app Chowbus thinks regional cuisines deserve better. So they partner selectively with beloved Asian restaurants in each community to offer authentic Chinese, Thai, Korean and other specialties directly to your door.
While juggernauts like DoorDash and Uber Eats feature all types of restaurants in one giant marketplace, Chowbus focuses exclusively on showcasing the best local Asian eateries around – think hand picked mom and pops rather than Panda Express.
This targeted approach delivered such demand that Chowbus expanded recently to over 25 North American cities while growing delivery volume over 800% in 2021 and raising $33M more in VC funding to ignite further reach.
So next time you‘ve got an Asian food craving, try Chowbus to unlock local flavors you can‘t find elsewhere while supporting family businesses and cultural cuisine in one bite!
Cooler Screens Brings "Minority Report" Retail Ads to Life
| Year Founded | Total Funding | Latest Valuation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $80M+ | Unknown | Chicago, IL |
Remember the scene in the Tom Cruise film "Minority Report" with personalized floating holographic ads following people through a mall? That‘s essentially what Cooler Screens is pioneering in the real world today.
Founded in Chicago in 2017, Cooler Screens equips retail cooler doors in major chains like Walgreens, Kroger and Circle K with adaptive touchscreen displays. This allows dynamically targeted advertising, promotions and shopping capabilities right on cooler doors housing chilled beverages, frozen goods and more.
With their screens now illuminating over 5,000 retail fridges across the U.S. thanks to deals with Coca-Cola, Red Bull and other brands advertising…Cooler Screens closed an $80M+ Series C round in late 2021 to scale their futuristic in-store experiences even further.
So don‘t be surprised next time you grab a grocery sprite to see personalized content glowing back at you from inside the cooler itself! Cooler Screens proves the future of contextualized advertising and digital experiences has already arrived at locations right in your neighborhood.
Hallow App Makes Peacefulness a Illinois Blockbuster
| Year Founded | Total Funding | Latest Valuation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $58M | Unknown | Chicago, IL |
Silence and stillness became precious commodities when COVID kept us isolated at home. Yet too much external noise also plagued us internally when straining for peace.
Enter Chicago founded meditation and prayer app Hallow providing solace right when so many souls needed it most.
With original audio sessions tailored for religious AND non-religious finding of calm and meaning, Hallow struck a mainstream chord with pandemic audiences. In fact their app hit the top 3 Health & Fitness downloads shortly after lockdowns triggered huge demand spikes in 2020.
Fast forward to 2022 where a recent $52M Series B round now positions this homegrown wellness disruptor to permeate the daily habits of over 10 million mindful users in 200+ countries globally.
So if you‘re overwhelmed by the swirling tides of life or current events, Hallow can anchor your days with refreshing moments of intentional reflection you control. This innovative Illinois startup will surely scale new heights with their audio sanctuary expanding normalcy the world so deeply craves.
There‘s just a small sample of the fast-moving tech companies started in Illinois who quickly outgrew their Chicago crib. Next let‘s explore a few local stalwarts who employ thousands and wield influence as both technology pioneers AND economic engines right in the state‘s borders:
Large Homegrown Tech Corporations Anchoring Illinois
In addition to the meteoric startups covered already based in Illinois, several publicly traded corporations also employ tens of thousands locally while operating on the cutting edge from their Chicago area headquarters:
Boeing – Global Aerospace & Communications Titan
| Year Founded | Market Cap | Employees | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | $100B | 140,000 | Chicago, IL |
Aerospace pioneer Boeing planted roots in Illinois the same year Boeing-built seaplanes first took WWI U.S. pilots to battle in France.
Over a century later, this iconic manufacturer now employs 9,000 engineers and technology specialists in Chicago facilities. Here Boeing develops commercial air travel breakthroughs like fuel efficient carbon fiber jets and hypersonic aircraft that could one day fly Mach 5!
Yet Boeing also builds the bleeding-edge communications and defense technology keeping our digitally connected world afloat daily:
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Over 90% of all satellites launched today are built by Boeing, including global positioning infrastructure for GPS and networks powering wifi, television and mobile broadband beamed earthwide
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Boeing subsidiary Insitu designs unmanned drones critical for both military reconnaissance and monitoring climate change impacts
So next time you stream, text, withdraw cash or hail a rideshare rocketing to your doorstep in minutes…remember much of the infrastructure innovation powering these digital conveniences traces roots back to boiler rooms in Boeing‘s Chicago based engineering labs!
Walgreens Boots Alliance – The Retail Health & Tech Titan of Illinois
| Year Founded | Market Cap | Employees | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 / 1849 | $29B | 315,000 | Deerfield, IL |
Walgreens stands today as one of most recognizable convenience and pharmacy chains with over 9,000 stores at that familiar corner in neighborhoods across America.
Yet it may surprise you this retail juggernaut actually traces back to 1901 Chicago when Charles Walgreen Sr. purchased his first drug store at Cottage Grove and Bowen! Walgreen went on growing the chain to over 20 Chicago area locations before his death in 1939.
Fast forward to today where nearly 50 years after going public, Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA) corporate headquarters still sit just north of Chicago. Here a technology workforce over 15,000 strong delivers digital innovation powering retail health experiences globally:
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WBA processes over 1 billion digital pharmacy transactions yearly providing life-sustaining medicines to hundreds of millions of patients and caregivers
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With artificial intelligence and predictive analytics now woven into workflows enterprise-wide, WBA is automating everything from supply chain to in-store operations to M&A integration behind the scenes
So as Walgreens celebrates 120 years in business in 2022, this Illinois-conceived corporate Goliath continues extending its tech-fueled leadership bridging personalized healthcare and retail at a vast scale no competitor can match.
Dissecting The Trailblazers Who Put Illinois Tech on the Map
Beyond the modern marvels and soaring startups covered above, we also want to give credit where due to two lesser sung technology innovators who pioneered right from Illinois soil early on:
Stats Perform – The Illinois Data Upstart Who Made Sports Smarter
| Year Founded | Location |
|---|---|
| 1981 | Chicago, IL |
The seeds creating today‘s world of AI-powered sports analytics first spread from a Chicago basement over 40 years back.
That‘s when baseball stat guru John Dewan founded Stats Inc. which evolved into Stats Perform over time. In those early PC-less days, "The Elias Book of Baseball" was the stat bible and teams analyzed players via notecards!
Dewan‘s data operation was among the first to track granular player and strategy matchups towards predicting outcomes. Stats Inc. improved baseball cards, fantasy league draft accuracy and betting odds for over a decade.
They later influenced analytics across sports and media after acquiring NFL data partner Accuscore. Then Stats continued evolving into a global sportsbook and broadcast technology leader over decades…even as ownership changed hands multiple times.
So while Moneyball and batting averages now feel commonplace, remember real pioneers like Stats Perform first cultivated those groundbreaking concepts from local Chicago roots!
Jellyvision – The Quirky Chicago Game Studio Who Won Our Hearts
| Year Founded | Location |
|---|---|
| 1989 | Chicago, IL |
In the early days of consumer software in 1989, a little game studio called Jellyvision shook up the industry status quo in a huge way with their launch title "You Don‘t Know Jack".
Part irreverent trivia and part zany game show, YDKJ weaponized humor and interactivity into one of the most successful CD-ROM game franchises ever for PCs. It sold over 14 million copies over various editions given the studios‘ mastery of marrying comedy, questioning and unpredictability.
Jellyvision eventually pivoted from gaming to interactive employee communication and benefits technologies long ago. But for a shining moment this Chicago studio bottled lightning in a bottle, pioneering a style of edgy experimentation and laughter that gamers everywhere still cherish decades later.
Why the Future Looks So Bright in Illinois‘ Tech Community
Given all the innovation covered already seeded from Illinois startups and stalwarts alike, perhaps the future seems obvioiusly rosy for Chicago‘s technology landscape.
But a few tailwinds merit calling out that paint an EVEN MORE prosperous picture in the decade ahead:
Young STEM Grads Concentrate Heavily Around Illinois Schools – With globally elite programs at Northwestern, UChicago and UIUC nearby churning thousands of eager engineering/compsci graduates annually, Illinois tech recruiting stays target rich for years.
Global Industries Converge as Chicago Anchors the New Macroeconomy – Agriculture fuels food breakthroughs…transportation intersects with energy and climate tech…healthcare bridges into retail pharmacies and public health…Illinois cross-pollinates industries daily in our information economy.
Heartland Hospitality Breeds Grassroots Tech Communities – The cultural candor and warmth woven into Midwest startups fosters more resonance and loyalty with society vs. coastal tech bro toxicity turning many off.
Rising VC Funding Cements Chicago‘s Status as an Ascendant Startup Hub – 2021 marked record seed and Series A deals for Illinois while marquee funds like Bain Capital scale up startup pools locally with new regional offices too!
So for all these reasons and more, savvy founders and investors worldwide now realize the Golden State sheen training attention out west risks blinding them to lucrative potential being built in the Heartland.
Because Illinois offers all the seeds and soil for technology‘s next epochal garden to bloom and flourish for decades ahead. The future remains bright as Chicago‘s spirit stays bold in breeding the imaginations and innovations that will shoulder business evolution for the next generation of digital transformation!
I hope you‘ve enjoyed this insider‘s overview of the overlooked depth powering Illinois‘ technology legacy along with all the upstarts and icons whose imagination continues fueling its future. Now you can appreciate the tech innovation bubbling locally through an entirely new and likely surprising lens!
What iconic company origin stories stemming from the Land of Lincoln stood out most to you in their imprint left on business and technology? Are there other Illinois innovators I missed that deserve being spotlighted for their contributions spearheading new thinking in their times?
Look forward to your perspectives in the comments below! But for now just remember that behind Silicon Valley‘s crushing spotlight often hides fertile startup and research hubs advancing industries essential to all aspects of our lives in their own impressive ways coast to coast.
