Apple, City of Chicago team up to teach students to build apps
On Tuesday, Apple and the City of Chicago announced a new initiative to teach coding to students. The tech giant will bring its “Everyone Can Code” program, which teaches Swift, to Chicago public schools and city colleges. Local companies and organizations, including 1871, Jellyvision and McDonald’s, will support the program by providing internship opportunities to students who complete the course and volunteer opportunities to employees who want to work as teachers. [Apple]
Peapod rolls out SMS ordering
Peapod has rolled out a new mobile ordering platform called Chat-to-Cart. The feature lets users order groceries by text message. Grocery lists can be shared by family members and, in a sign of the times, the platform can recognize messages made up of nothing but emoji. [PR Newswire]
Reverb LP launches open beta
Instrument and music equipment marketplace Reverb has opened Reverb LP for beta testing. The site gives record collectors and stores a new place to buy and sell vinyls, CDs and cassettes. [Press release]
Fullstack Academy announces Grace Hopper Track
Fullstack Academy has introduced a new women’s-only program, the Grace Hopper Track, which offers a deferred tuition model. The program, which welcomes its first cohort in February, allows students to defer payment until after they’ve secured a full-time job. [Built In Chicago]
Arity releases real-time driver safety tools
Chicago startup Arity has launched a new suite of tools that leverage big data and predictive analytics to make driving safer. Risk Data Stream, Drive Shield Alerts and Drive Shield Routing are all designed to alert drivers about dangerous roads and routes in real time. [GlobeNewswire]
Keeper Security lands in Ireland
Keeper Security has opened a new office in Cork, Ireland. In a statement, Keeper Security said the office will provide customer, engineering and sales support to the EMEA region. Its headcount is expected to grow to 50 employees over the next two years. [PR Newswire]
Chicago welcomes new tech execs
Andee Harris is the new CEO at HighGround. Harris was previously the company’s chief engagement officer. Vip Sandhir, who founded HighGround and served as CEO for six years, will remain on the company’s board of directors. [Crain’s]
The Encyclopaedia Britannica Group has named Karthik Krishnan its global CEO. Before joining the company, Krishnan was senior vice president and general manager at Elsevier, a publisher of scientific, technical and medical research and journals. [PR Newswire]
Chad Schneider has joined Jellyvision as the company’s first-ever director of channel sales. Before landing at Jellyvision, Schneider was the chief sales officer at Chicago SaaS startup Code SixFour. [Press release]
Outcome Health has a new COO, Nandini Ramani. Ramani was formerly the company’s chief engineering officer. She joined Outcome Health over summer in a high-profile move from Twitter. [Crain’s]
