Tech roundup: Chicago tech funding continues, Outcome Health's hiring plans and more

by Michael Hines
September 28, 2017

Outcome Health announces new HQ, major hiring plans

On Tuesday, Outcome Health celebrated the opening of its new River North headquarters, dubbed "Outcome Tower," by making a major announcement. The healthtech company will add 2,000 new employees by 2022. The news continues a stellar year for the company, which raised a massive $500 million funding round in May after doubling revenues two years in a row. [Built In Chicago]

 

Chicago startups stay hot, raise another $83.6 million in three days

Last week, four Chicago tech companies raised $83 million in two days. This week, three startups pulled in a nearly identical figure in about the same amount of time.

On Monday, Tempus announced a $70 million Series C. The healthtech startup uses genomic sequencing, molecular science and big data analytics to help determine which treatments a cancer patient is most likely to respond to. The new round brings the two-year-old company’s total funding to $130 million.

On Tuesday, food delivery startup Fooda, which specializes in delivering lunch to office workers, revealed it has raised a $12.5 million Series C round. The company’s total funding is now up to $34.2 million. CEO Orazio Buzza told Crain’s that Fooda’s plan is to expand into the United States’ 50 largest cities. The startup currently operates in 11 markets.

Irish-American startup CloudRanger announced it secured a $1.1 million seed round on Wednesday. The round was led by Enterprise Ireland and also featured several private American and Irish investors. The company plans to use the funding to add to both its Irish development team and Chicago sales staff.

 

Siemens to create over 100 new Chicago tech jobs

On Tuesday, Siemens shared plans for a downtown digital research and development hub that will create more than 100 new tech jobs. The company said the new office would open sometime in October. The R&D hub will work to develop new applications for Siemens' smart building and home management technology. [Built In Chicago]

 

WeWork chooses Chicago for Midwest HQ

Coworking startup WeWork has chosen Chicago as the location for its Midwest headquarters. The new HQ will be based out of the company's Kinzie location in River North, and will house employees from its sales, marketing and PR teams. WeWork has six locations in Chicago and is active in two other Midwest cities: Detroit and Minneapolis. [Chicago Inno]

 

SpotMe opens New York office

SpotMe, which makes apps for live events and conferences, has opened an office in New York. The downtown Manhattan office is the company’s first on the East Coast and will allow for the growth of its business development and program management teams. SpotMe has six offices around the world, with its U.S. headquarters located in Chicago. [Press release]

 

Chicago accelerates efforts to land second Amazon HQ

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Bruce Rauner have organized a group of over 600 civic and business leaders to campaign for Amazon’s second headquarters. The tech giant's new HQ could employ up to 50,000 people. The group’s four co-chairs, all business veterans, will work to get corporate and community support for the project and to craft the city’s pitch, should Chicago make it past the proposal process. [Crain’s]

 

Endotronix opens new headquarters

Healthtech company Endotronix opened the doors of its new headquarters in Lisle on Wednesday. The new space measures over 16,000 square-feet and will be home to the company’s 50 employees. Endotronix builds cloud-based outpatient monitoring software for those with advanced heart failure, as well as wireless-enabled heart implants. [Press release]

 

The Difference Engine welcomes new class

Chicago nonprofit The Difference Engine, which trains people from nontraditional tech backgrounds to become developers, welcomed a new cohort on Monday. The dev apprentices will participate in a 17-week program in which they’ll complete pro bono projects for nonprofits and social organizations. [Press release]

 

DropSpot expands to Chicago

Denver-based startup DropSpot is expanding to Chicago. The company lets those living in large apartment buildings have their packages delivered to nearby businesses. In addition to the Windy City, DropSpot also announced that it will be moving into San Francisco. [PR Newswire]

 

Images via listed companies, social media and Shutterstock.

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