Where are Chicago’s most exciting tech companies located?
If you think the answer to that question is River North, you’re only partially right.
Chicago tech is booming, with many companies outgrowing the lofts and co-working spaces for which River North has become so well known. And as they’ve gone in search for new, bigger offices, technology hubs have popped up around them, leaving their imprint on ever-wider swaths of the city.
To get a better sense of where these tech hubs are located, we broke down over 150 funding rounds from the past year by zip code.
Between August 1, 2015 and July 31, 2016, the total amount raised by Chicago tech companies comes to a staggering $2.1 billion, distributed among 150 companies.
That amount is partly fueled by large players like Avant and Groupon, but leaves out rounds from companies like SteelBrick and Glen Tullman’s Livongo — both of which raised over $45 million in funding and have offices in Chicago but are officially headquartered in California.
This year, the bulk of funding went to companies in the Loop. The 60601 zip code directly south of River North led the way with a whopping $714 million, driven in huge part by two rounds raised by Avant for a combined total of $664 million.
Unsurprisingly, River North’s 60654 sailed up in a close second with $482 million in total funding. Unusually for a publicly traded company, Groupon led the way in private investment with a $250 million round from a Comcast-affiliated firm looking to form partnerships around customer engagement. A total of six privately held companies in the 60654 zip code raised over $10 million, with Uptake, Cumulus Funding and Dose raising $45 million, $31 million and $25 million respectively.
Third among the city’s zip codes was 60606, which boasted five fundings for $30 million or more for a total of $291 million, including adtech startup Vibes’ $45 million round and the $40 million haul made by healthtech company higi.
The fourth and fifth places on the list go to 60611 (Streeterville) and 60661 (West Loop) with totals of $164 million and $126 million, respectively. Streeterville’s total is largely driven by the $150 million Series D that put SMS Assist on the map as Chicago’s newest unicorn. The bulk of 60661’s 12 rounds, meanwhile, land in the $2 million to $26 million range, solidifying the West Loop’s reputation as a home for large growth-stage startups.
Maestro Health was the biggest fundraiser in 60661 at $26 million, with parking startup ParkWhiz in a close second with $24 million.
The three neighborhoods in sixth, seventh and eighth place are 60603 (the Loop), 60607 (West Loop) and 60602 (the Loop). The biggest rounds in each of those neighborhoods came from Sprout Social ($42 million), Shiftgig ($22 million) and Insureon ($31 million), respectively.
The suburbs also made their mark on this year’s list. Woodridge-based healthtech startup Endotronix put 60517 in the number nine spot with a $32 million round. Finally, the Skokie trifecta of Polyera, DeliverCareRX and itemMaster landed 60077 on the list’s tenth spot with a funding total just shy of $29 million.
Top 10 Chicago zip codes by funding
60601 (The Loop): $714,208,759
60654 (River North): $481,919,158
60606 (The Loop): $290,905,399
60611 (Streeterville): $163,605,000
60661 (West Loop): $126,264,759
60603 (The Loop): $47,989,744
60607 (West Loop): $44,740,000
60602 (The Loop): $39,000,000
60517 (Woodridge): $32,000,000
60077 (Skokie): $28,689,607
Image via Shutterstock.
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