Hyde Park Angels is one of Chicago’s best-known investment groups, but recent changes to its strategy have it making more deals than ever as it enters its 10th year. It’s gone from a group where inexperienced investors went to try out angel investing to one where seasoned investors turn for good deals, said Maura O’Hara ⇒, executive […]
Chicago cybersecurity startup Kenna Security announced today that it has closed a $15 million Series B round of funding to expand its tech team, as well as its sales and marketing efforts. Founded in 2011, Kenna is the maker of a Big Data platform that helps companies understand the cybersecurity threats they face and establish better priorities […]
This year, we added a new category to our annual 50 on Fire awards event – Supporters. Supporters are anyone, individuals or organizations, that are committed to strengthening and supporting the ecosystem, whether it’s through capital, community, real-estate, mentorship, education, and more. That’s why this is our most eclectic and varied list – it has venture capitalists and […]
In technology, there are few buzz terms that capture the public’s collective imagination as intensively as the “internet of things.” Yet, as the IoT market matures and grows, two main lingering questions remain: what is its real potential and how can technologists get there? To find out, we spoke with two of the most qualified […]
Bot creation platform Motion.ai now allows people to create bots with Node.js modules that can be used to do things like call on APIs or interact with databases. Motion.ai utilizes the cloud-based AWS Lambda service to bring Node.js to its platform. The integration was announced today at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas. “Up until today, users looking to manipulate their Motion AI bots […]
Development teams may build cool stuff, but sales teams are vital for the success of Chicago’s tech ecosystem. We talked to three Chicago startups about what they look for in sales candidates, and it turns out a background in sales isn’t vital. Check out their answers below to see what it takes to join their […]
If you missed Hyde Park Angels’ Entrepreneurial Education Event or just want a quick recap, read on for highlights from the discussion. The event brought together world-class entrepreneurs and investors Jim Gray (CEO, G-Bar Limited Partnership; Co-Founder, OptionsXpress), Amanda Lannert (CEO, Jellyvision), Badal Shah (Co-Founder and CEO, TurboAppeal), Michael Small (CEO, gogo), and Kevin Willer (Partner, Chicago Ventures) to share their insights on attracting and managing advisors, investors and board members with panel […]
Randolph Restaurant Row lacks an abundance of weekday breakfast options, and that’s the void the Eastman Egg Company wants to fill. Ownership today opened their West Loop location, the third restaurant for the burgeoning local mini-chain. While the first two restaurants serve a downtown/commuter crowd, founder and CEO Hunter Swartz is excited to serve locals in more of a […]
Tracey Wiedmeyer, the Chief Technology Officer from Incontext Solutions, talked to Scott Kitun about the scalable cloud-based virtual reality (VR) shopping and retail solutions that they offer. They also dive into how VR can help predict consumer behavior and looked at the virtual reality market research technology. Twitter @kristendecker Hear the interview on WGN Plus