These Tech Companies Opened Chicago Offices in 2022
With more and more companies looking to get workers back into the office either on a permanent basis or a hybrid schedule, there is renewed interest in physical office spaces, especially in Chicago.
While remote work offers employees work-life flexibility, offices are great for socializing with coworkers and offer a productive space often filled with snacks, drinks and other amenities. Read on to see what these new local offices have to offer and who’s hiring.
The list, which includes homegrown startups as well as newcomers, will be updated throughout the year as more companies open new offices in the Windy City.
As of December 19, at least 17 tech companies opened new offices in Chicago.
TransLoop opened an office in Chicago in early December. The new office is approximately 20,000 square feet and will be used to house the company’s growing team. TransLoop brings artificial intelligence-powered algorithms to the logistics industry and plans to hire more than 100 local employees in the near future.
In early December, the San Mateo-based company that develops video creation software opened a regional office in the Windy City. According to Vyond, the regional office will help it better support its local clients.
Monday.com leased office space in the Old Post Office building in late October. It opened its Chicago office shortly after opening its U.S. headquarters in NYC. Monday.com developed the WorkOS platform, which helps companies create custom software and tools for their day-to-day needs.
Fintech company Chime opened an office in the West Loop in October. Headquartered in the Bay Area, Chime offers banking services without overdraft fees, minimum balances and monthly service fees. Its Chicago office is over 26,000 square feet and can house 150 employees. Chime is actively hiring and has open positions listed on Built In.
Founded in 2010, Culture Amp helps companies retain diverse workforces with its software tools. The company is headquartered in Australia but opened an office in Chicago over the summer. Culture Amp also announced plans to hire additional staff and grow its global team to more than 1,100 employees this year. The company has additional U.S. offices in New York and San Francisco.
Over the summer, Google announced plans to purchase the Thompson Center for $105 million. By 2026, Google will convert the center into additional office space for its Chicago-based employees. Its office in Fulton Market currently houses more than 1,800 employees. Earlier in the year, Google said it planned to hire an additional 500 employees.
Cleo has offices around Chicago but finally opened an office downtown in July. Cleo is a business-to-business ecosystem integrations company that uses software to facilitate communication between sales and other services. Over the past two years, Cleo increased its headcount to 400 employees.
The Old Chicago post office is turning into a hub for tech startups. In recent years, Uber, Cisco and CoinFlip have all moved into the iconic building. Back in January, software firm Focused Labs also joined the mix of tech companies in the building. Focused Labs was launched in 2018 and previously operated out of shared office space. Despite the office, the company says it will continue to support remote employees and provide a $1,000 stipend for home offices.
DataCapable is helping businesses, government entities and emergency services respond to real-world events. Its platform relays critical information gathered by its AI tech from social media, videos and photos. The company was founded in San Deigo but in January opened an office in Chicago. According to the company’s co-founder Pete DiSalvo, the Chicago office houses DataCapable’s entire development team.
Backed by actress Mila Kunis, Bartesian announced in February that it would be moving into a new HQ in Chicago’s Fulton Market. The news space will be five times the size of Bartesian’s current space in River North with plenty of room to accommodate the company’s future hiring initiatives. The startup manufactures a product similar to a Keurig machine, but instead of coffee it creates “on-demand premium cocktails.” The new space will also feature 16-foot ceilings, rustic timber beams and a private speakeasy bar on the lower level.
Food Rocket is a rapid grocery delivery platform. In 2021, the company raised $2 million in venture funding and now it is looking to take on bigger competitors. To do so, Food Rocket announced the opening of a Chicago office in February. Food Rocket is looking to service some 600,000 Chicago households and will offer its delivery services in several neighborhoods, according to Grocery Drive.
Also opening a new office in Fulton Market is Applied Systems. According to the Chicago Business Journal, the company signed a lease in early March for a 10,000-square-foot office space at 320 N. Sangamon St. The 13-story building is host to several other tech companies. Applied Systems, which provides cloud software for insurance companies, aims to use the space to recruit and onboard new employees, according to the Business Journal.
Fintech startup Halo Investing is moving into a new office in Chicago’s Financial District and will be situated a mere walking distance from the Willis Tower. Halo Investing’s platform helps banks and financial advisors purchase structured notes on stocks and other assets in small amounts. In 2021 the company raised a $100 million Series C round and with it planned to hire. The new Chicago office, which will be large enough to house an additional 100 employees, will serve as Halo Investing’s HQ. The company also has offices in Abu Dhabi, Switzerland, Dubai and Singapore.
Logik.io relocated in late March to a larger office just outside of Chicago’s city limits in Highland Park. Logik creates custom solutions for Salesforce’s CPQ platform that helps companies price products online. The move out to the suburbs comes on the back of a $10 million seed funding round that the company said would be used to double its headcount. According to a press release from the company, it is looking to bring in talent for its product and engineering teams.
Coro is a cybersecurity firm that focuses on providing a security platform for small and mid-sized businesses. The company is headquartered in New York but after raising $80 million in funding, it is looking to expand rapidly and Chicago is its first target. According to Coro, the company added 40 new employees to the Chicago team and is looking to expand to 200 local employees by 2023. Coro’s Chicago office, which was announced in April, is located in the West Loop.
Looking to speed up innovation for new tech for the U.S. military, the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) partnered with the Department of Defense (DoD) to open a tech office in Chicago in April. According to the DoD, the office will leverage the Midwest tech talent and develop new tech in the fields of AI, energy, space and cybersecurity. The DIU has offices in Boston; Austin; Mountainview, California and Washington, D.C.
Auto Approve is looking to hire 100 Chicago employees after it opened its first office outside of Minnesota in the Windy City in June. The startup helps people refinance their car loans through its online platform and moved into an 18,000-square-foot office inside Willis Tower. The company is backed by Neil Bluhm, a Chicago billionaire in the casino and real estate industry.
