Despite a quiet time on the Chicago tech front, several startups made new developments last week. Read more to find out what’s new. This is the Built In Chicago weekly refresh.
1871 is launching an accelerator for Black founders. The new program, sponsored by Verizon, is called BLK•Tech and will provide participants with mentoring from Black leaders in Chicago’s business and tech space. The 12-week period will also consist of business training through the startup incubator’s PYROS education program. The first cohort is set to launch on February 2. [Chicago Inno]
Reveal got $200M. The investment came alongside the cloud-based e-discovery company’s merger with Brainspace, a startup specializing in machine learning tech. The capital came from K1 Investment Management and will help Reveal fund the expansion of several teams including sales and marketing, R&D and customer success and others. This new combination will facilitate the creation of a central platform that legal professionals can use for all their e-discovery needs. [Built In Chicago]
Chicago Tech Quote of the Week
Ocient raised $40M. To fund its plans of increasing its employee headcount, the data analytics startup closed on a Series B funding round. Following its $15 million raise last summer, Ocient’s total venture funding has reached $65 million to date. Aiming for 150 new hires by the end of the year, the company is recruiting for roles in engineering, customer success, operations, sales and marketing. [Built In Chicago]
Paro promotes Anita Samojednik to CEO. In her previous role as COO for the enterprise fintech company, Samojednik helped to redirect company focus toward worthwhile investments that led toward Paro’s growth. As CEO, she anticipates leading the company as it accelerates evolving its AI platform to better serve its clients’ needs. [Business Wire]
