1871 CEO Howard Tullman to step down
On Wednesday the Chicago Sun Times broke the news that 1871 CEO Howard Tullman was stepping down after four years. The paper learned of Tullman’s departure via a memo sent by James J. O’Connor, the board chair of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, the organization that founded 1871.
Tullman told Crain’s that it was the right time for him to step down. “I'm a builder. I enjoy (1871), but there are a lot of other things I enjoy, as well,” Tullman said. He will remain on the job until the end of the year. A consulting company has been hired to find a replacement CEO. [The Chicago Sun Times]
Grubhub and Groupon join forces
On Monday, Chicago tech giants Groupon and Grubhub announced a new partnership in the food delivery space. Grubhub will power the Groupon to Go food platform and handle delivery services, with users able to apply Groupons to food orders. The Baltimore Sun reported that Grubhub will take over 27 markets from OrderUp, a Groupon food delivery company, as part of the deal. [The Chicago Tribune]
July sees Chicago startups reel in $58M in investor funds
Chicago tech scored $58 million in new investor money this past month. This was thanks in large part to SpotHero's $30 million Series C round. The month’s other big rounds included $11 million in funding for Schaumburg-based CellTrak as well as an $8 million Series B for healthtech company PhysIQ. [Built In Chicago]
Braintree celebrates major growth milestone
Last week Braintree announced that it processes over 1 billion transactions per quarter. This milestone comes 10 years after the company was founded and a little over three years after it was acquired by PayPal. The company’s rapid growth was fueled in part by becoming a PayPal company, but before that Braintree had both acquired mobile payment company Venmo and expanded internationally. [Press Release]
Upwork moves to a bigger office, reveals hiring plans
Freelancer platform Upwork shared news of its move to a new office Wednesday. The relocation was driven by the California company’s plans to expand in Chicago. According to Chicago Inno, Upwork wants to hire 50 new employees before the end of the year and plans to add another 100 new hires by t he end of 2018. The majority of the new roles will be in enterprise sales. [Chicago Inno]
Chicago crowned the Midwest’s “top startup city”
Startup funding database Crunchbase named Chicago the best startup city in the Midwest. The rankings were compiled using data dating back to January 2015 and took three factors into account: the amount of startups founded, the number and total dollar volume of venture capital rounds raised by companies, and the city’s number of investors. Joining Chicago on the podium were Minneapolis and Detroit. St. Louis and Cincinnati rounded out the top five. [Crunchbase]
Truss hires new vice president
On Tuesday, Truss announced Nicole Weldon as its new vice president of office brokerage. Truss, a startup that makes finding office space easier, was founded by Chicago serial entrepreneur Andrew Bokor. Weldon will be responsible for working with both the platform’s landlords and prospective tenants. Weldon was a commercial real estate advisor at CRESA Global Inc. and a tenant advisor at Bespoke Commercial Real Estate prior to joining Truss.
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