A Brief Guide to UChicago’s Startup Ecosystem: by Michael Seidl
Organizations:
Midway Ventures: Midway Ventures is a student-run venture capital and startup consulting group based out of the University of Chicago. We share a passion for entrepreneurship, venture capital, and technology.
International Leadership Council in Entrepreneurship: In ILC:E, members can expect to engage in entrepreneurial projects and learn business fundamentals through discussions, guest speakers, and hands-on learning, ranging from pitching your own startup to real entrepreneurs, to learning the ins and out of the startup lifecycle.
Polsky: The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation bridges the gap between knowledge and practice, action and idea, as well as research and impact through education, partnerships, and new venture creation.
Learn To Fly Ventures: LTF Ventures is a student-run venture capital organization dedicated to helping novel ideas get off the ground. We are proud to fund UChicago students to pursue their creative, professional missions.
Rockefeller Business Management: RBM is dedicated to providing students at the University of Chicago with the invaluable hands-on experience of running a business. It will push its members to generate innovative business policy and procedure through immersive projects in which members will bear the full responsibility of operating and managing a business of their own.
Edge: the central organization for undergraduate entrepreneurship activity at UChicago. Edge’s mission is to provide UChicago students with resources and a community to help them build skills, companies, and relationships.
Co-Working Spaces:
The Polsky Exchange: operated by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and is a 34,000 square foot coworking space located on 53rd Street in Hyde Park. Membership is free for all University students, faculty and staff.
1871: Founded in 2012, 1871 was created to support Chicago’s digital startup community. Since that time, it has become a hub for the city’s thriving technology and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
University Technology Park at IIT: offers laboratory and office space for lease. The University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory are academic affiliates and hold office space there.
The Washington Park Arts Incubator: a space for artist residencies, arts education, community-based arts projects, as well as exhibitions, performances, and talks.
Other Recommendations: Crerar, Hallowed grounds, Booth,
Rising Stars:
Quevos: We've worked for over two years to bring to life a snack without any tradeoffs. To do that, we had to throw out potatoes and tortillas and create a chip out of an entirely new base-- egg whites!
Raised $1M in seed round, CNVC finalist.
Fronen: We perfected Frönen – an irresistible dessert that’s filled with flavor and light on guilt. We shared our treat with college friends who loved it.
Raised $735k in debt. CNVC finalist.
Modern Reliance: Modern Reliance connects Older Adults to college students in their area to empower them to overcome loneliness.
CNVC finalist. Currently raising $250k seed round
Spott: Find the hottest places and events on your campus and in your city, instantly
Incubated at polsky Summer 19’. $10k safe pre-seed
Tovala: a meal service for insanely busy people. We've reinvented home cooking to save you time.
Raised $18.6M series A. NVC finalist (graduate school)
FitnessCubed: Fitness Cubed offers Cubii, an under-desk elliptical trainer, which integrates wirelessly with mobile devices and fitness trackers.
Raised $1.3M Seed. NVC finalist (graduate school)
Podu: The Platform for Arabic Podcasts.
CNVC winning team 19’. $15k grant received
Sokowatch: Sokowatch puts the power of e-commerce in the hands of informal retailers
Raised $4.5M in seed round. CNVC Finalist
Mealflour: social enterprise founded in 2016 to promote better nutrition through sustainable farming of protein-rich mealworms.
CNVC Finalist
Taiger: Market leader and pioneer of Knowledge Process Optimization, specializing in automating complex cognitive tasks
Raised $31.3M Series B. Booth graduate
Besst: A place to compete with your friends wagering social clout instead of money.
Acquired by Vintro for undisclosed sum.
Simmer: (formerly Foodie) A menu item specific review tool
YC S19, CNVC finalist
Legends:
Braintree: Reach more buyers and drive higher conversion with the only payments platform that delivers PayPal, Venmo (in the US), credit and debit cards, and popular digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay in a single, seamless integration.
Groupon: Groupon is a deal-of-the-day website that offers discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies.
IPO. Current market cap is ~$1.5B. MBA 04’
Grubhub: Explore restaurants that deliver near you, or try yummy takeout fare. With a place for every taste, it’s easy to find food you crave, and order online or through the Grubhub app,
IPO. Current market cap is ~ $3.91B. CNVC. NVC 06’ winner.
Simple Mills: Delicious and nutrient-rich baking mixes made of simple ingredients you’ll fall in love with!
Raised $7.2M. Booth student founded
People:
Scott Metcalf: Senior associate program director at the University of Chicago where he leads undergraduate career advising teams for healthcare, law, education, public policy, entrepreneurship, STEM, journalism, arts, and media.
Starr Marcello: oversees the strategic development of the Polsky Center and works with University of Chicago students, faculty, and staff to launch the next generation of high-impact ventures as the Polsky Center’s executive director.
Lucas Peralta: Lucas Peralta focuses on innovation programming including the Polsky I-Corps program, the Collaboratorium, the Polsky Founders’ Fund Fellowship (PF3), and the New Venture Challenge among others
News:
Midway Newsletter: Weekly curated emails that outline interesting trends in venture capital and startups across the country. Built by UChicago students, for Uchicago students.
Polsky Weekly 10: Weekly notification of all the most share-worthy, news-worthy, and innovative happenings in and around the Polsky Center. This is your one-stop email for all the greatest entrepreneurial news and updates regarding UChicago and Chicago Booth alumni and current students.
Tech Transfer News: From Idea to Impact: Advancing UChicago Discoveries newsletter outlines the most important research, discoveries, and inventions coming out of the University of Chicago and working towards commercialization on a regular basis
Polsky World Wide: News and updates from alumni entrepreneurs and startups across the globe, including interviews with entrepreneurs and investors and upcoming events.
The Chicago Maroon: The independent student newspaper of the University of Chicago, is a weekly publication founded in 1892.
Events:
CNVC: Launched in 1996, the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) is recognized as one of the top-ranked accelerator programs in the nation. Through the NVC, the Polsky Center has graduated more than 330 startup companies and created thousands of jobs for the economy.
CVCC: Teams of up to five students pose as venture capitalists and evaluate real startup companies as any VC would. Competition rounds are divided into due diligence, investor pitch, and a final negotiation round with the entrepreneur.
Tiger Launch: The nation's largest student-run entrepreneurship competition dedicated to building a network of student founders at the university, regional and national levels. Midwest regionals are hosted in Uchicago.
100 Days Challenge Pitch: Part of ILC: E’s club framework. Build a startup in 100 days and pitch to a panel of VC’s, angels, and founders.
Startupfest: Startup Fest combines the UChicago spirit of creative innovation and collaboration in a lively, high-traffic event that showcases UChicago student entrepreneurship as well as startups from neighboring universities and accelerators, exposing the undergraduate and larger University of Chicago community to the local entrepreneurship space.
Design Thinking Innovation Challenge: The Innovation https://www.tigerlaunch.com/and Design Club at Chicago Booth is creating its first design thinking competition that brings together top talent students across the University of Chicago with different backgrounds. Groups of students will tackle a real-world problem while learning about the design thinking process.
Funding/Grants:
LTF: Student-run venture capital organization dedicated to helping novel ideas get off the ground. Give grants between $1000 - $3000 for startups that meet criteria.
Stamps Scholar: Stamps Scholars receive grants of $20,000 that can be used over the course of their final two years at the University. Recipients may use these enrichment funds for a wide variety of experiential learning opportunities, including internships, research projects, entrepreneurial endeavors, volunteering, attending professional conferences, and other experiences at the discretion of the University and the Foundation.
Hyde Park Angels: the Midwest’s largest angel organization, providing a forum for entrepreneurial-minded members to invest in early-stage businesses
Polsky Center Accelerator Program: The Polsky Accelerator, launched in June 2012, gives student teams the opportunity to work intensively and solely on their businesses and social enterprises in a collaborative and dynamic environment over the summer. The Accelerator Program accepts 10-12 teams to participate through a competitive selection process.
Contrary Capital: Solely focused on backing the brightest individuals and bleeding-edge technologies coming out of universities. Pre-seed and seed stage checks.
Founders’ Fund Fellowship Program: a resource available to graduating University of Chicago students who are committed to growing a company after graduation.
Internships/Careers:
Metcalf Internships: Through the Jeff Metcalf Internship Program, UChicago students receive 3,000 paid, substantive internships during the summer and academic year.
University of Chicago Careers in Entrepreneurship: Students have access to personalized advising from experienced professionals who can help students articulate and refine their innovative ideas, identify career fields and industries that match their entrepreneurial interests, find job and internship opportunities, and prepare application materials.
UCISTEM Job Board: Students have access to cutting-edge research and faculty members across STEM fields and are able to explore the intersection of these fields across academics and industry.
Handshake: Career search resource hosted by Career Advancement. Using this system, College students and alumni who have graduated within the past 5 years can view and search jobs posted by the University and outside employers, as well as access On-Campus Recruiting opportunities and various University-sponsored internship programs.
Other Resources:
Fab Lab: The Fab Lab, located at the Polsky Exchange, offers entrepreneurs opportunities to transform their ideas into physical objects to share, test and perfect.
Polsky Mentors: Provides access to a variety of carefully curated entrepreneurs and experts from a wide range of industries.
More Programming: Several hands-on learning opportunities aimed at helping students, researchers, faculty, and community members pursue their own entrepreneurial endeavors or careers in private equity, venture, capital, entrepreneurship through acquisition, or social entrepreneurship.