A tech hub (and drone race track) could be coming to Naperville
A 200,000-square-foot tech hub could be coming to Naperville, according to a report from the Naperville Sun. The five-floor facility — with a drone race track on the top floor — would be located on a section of Nokia’s campus and be home to both hardware and software startups. Organizers are still waiting for approval from Nokia’s head honchos. If everything goes according to plan, n-HUB88 will launch this September or October. [Naperville Sun]
Midwest startups are killing it, new Hyde Park Angels study finds
A new study from Hyde Park Angels has found that the Midwest is one of the country's leading destinations for venture capital investment, trailing California and New York, and tied with the Boston metropolitan area. Illinois led the region with $1.94 billion raised in 2017. This study comes hot on the heels of one released by PitchBook that found Chicago leads all other cities in tech investor ROI. [Hyde Park Angels]
Spring Labs deactivates stealth mode
Spring Labs came out of stealth in a big way on Tuesday, announcing it has raised a $14.75 million seed round. The company — which was launched by members of Avant’s board and founding team — is building a blockchain-based platform for exchanging consumer credit data. Spring Labs is headquartered in Los Angeles and has an engineering office in Chicago. The startup will be hiring between 20 to 30 people for its product and tech teams over the next year. [Built In Chicago]
Apple announces new program to train teachers to code
A day after revealing a new iPad (and other fun stuff) at Chicago's Lane Tech College Prep High School, Apple announced it has partnered with Northwestern University and Chicago Public Schools to launch a program to train teachers in Swift coding. The three parties will launch the “Center for Excellence” at Lane Tech, where CPS teachers will learn the ins and outs of Apple’s app-building language from Northwestern professors. [Chicago Inno]
CityBase and Phenix score fresh funding
CityBase and Phenix both pulled in funding this week, with the former bringing in $2 million and the latter $2.5 million, according to SEC filings. March has been an absolutely massive month for Chicago tech funding, with rounds large and small closing seemingly every other day. Who is excited to see how much it all adds up to at the end of the month? (We are.)
No dibs: ParkWhiz, Boston Red Sox form parking partnership
ParkWhiz is the new official parking app of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox. Fans headed to Fenway Park will be able to reserve and pay for parking using the ParkWhiz app. The startup also powers the team’s web-based parking reservation platform. [PR Newswire]
HS2 Solutions wins Adobe award
HS2 Solutions has won Adobe’s Emerging Partner of the Year Award for 2017. The award, given out at a ceremony in Las Vegas, recognizes the company that has shown the most growth and sophistication in helping companies leverage the Adobe Experience Cloud. [Press release]
Spaces opens new coworking locations in Chicago
Dutch co-working company Spaces has opened up two locations in Chicago. Spaces Lincoln Park features 241 shared desks, while Spaces Fulton Market boasts 375 desks and an on-site barista. Both locations offer private offices, meeting rooms and community spaces. [Spaces]
