INNOVATE® Chicago Vol.1

The story of Nature’s Fynd™ begins millions of years ago, in an acidic hot spring located in what is today Yellowstone National Park when a remarkable microbe was born. In 2009, NASA-backed research on extremophiles led our co-founder to the park’s hot springs. He then isolated and discovered a remarkable...

ActiveCampaign is the leader in Customer Experience Automation (CXA), helping businesses across the world meaningfully engage with their customers. Our platform gives businesses of all sizes access to 820+ prebuilt automations that combine email marketing, marketing automation and CRM for powerful segmentation and personalization across social, email, messaging, chat and...

ADA Business Innovation Group (ADABIG) is a subsidiary of the American Dental Association (ADA), formed in 2018 to help dentists solve the industry’s most pressing challenges. In 2019, ADABIG launched its first service: ADA Practice TransitionsTM (ADAPT), a state-of-the-art online platform designed to help dentists navigate career transitions. Today ADAPT...

A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC: Ten-year-old Tyler feels more like a “patient” than a “person.” Despite fourteen surgeries, he remains bright, inquisitive, fun, funny. But, Tyler can’t talk due to a tracheotomy. He travels with a portable suction to keep his lungs open, and never knows when he’ll be back in Intensive...

REBOOT PARTNERS Reboot Partners helps emerging growth company CEO’s to operate at scale and accelerate global growth—and advises Fortune 1000 executives and multi-national corporations on how to tackle their most challenging issues, by seizing emerging market opportunities, building global partnerships and development initiatives, and leading sustainable digital-transformation programs. From behind-the-scenes...

The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC) is a community of business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals committed to empowering individuals by helping them start and grow their businesses. As the largest community of Latino business owners across Illinois and the Midwest, they represent more than 100,000 businesses. Latinos in Illinois...

At MATTER — a global innovation hub headquartered in Chicago — entrepreneurs come together with industry leaders, scientists and clinicians from across the globe to collaborate on developing next-generation healthcare technologies. We believe that collaboration between entrepreneurs and industry leaders is the fastest, most effective way to accelerate innovation, advance...

In the face of the obstacles challenging the augmented reality community, the BUNDLAR platform makes AR simple, affordable, and accessible to the average creator. We accomplish this with our proprietary Content Management System (CMS) and integrated mobile application. Instead of hiring expensive developers to build AR experiences, businesses and institutions...

ABOUT BMOFor over 200 years, BMO has been helping individuals and families, small and medium-sized businesses, corporations and institutions that form the backbone of the communities we serve. We are a highly diversified financial services provider, with a deep sense of purpose and a clear strategy for driving strong customer...

One of the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic experience is that companies have fundamentally changed the way they look at risk. Risks are more interconnected, so the impact is more profound. For example, increased weather events and supply chain disruptions are happening more frequently and having a greater impact...

Displays have become ubiquitous in our society. We find them in smartphones, tablets, laptops, TVs, drive through restaurants, ATM machines, thermostats, gas station pumps…the list is endless. Even still, there are notable negative impacts of displays which we have become accustomed to – excessive power consumption, subpar viewability in bright...

A former traveling salesman driving more than 3,000 miles each week, Farmer’s Fridge Founder and CEO Luke Saunders was frustrated with the lack of healthy, 24/7 options available on the road. Determined to solve this challenge, he built a high-tech smart Fridge that dispenses fresh meals within seconds. Despite facing...

The leading source for training, staffing, and career transitions, General Assembly fosters a flourishing community of professionals pursuing careers they love. What began as a co-working space in Manhattan in 2011 has since evolved into a global education and career development company, with more than 70,000 graduates and 32 campuses...

Cyber security is an arms race that is positioned to continue indefinitely. New technologies are constantly emerging to combat cyber criminals, but regardless, criminals discover how to exploit them. Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and other security-focused vendors detect many of these attacks and alert their customers and the community,...

WHAT WE DO ChangEd is an all-in-one debt management platform helping people build a better relationship with debt so they can reach their financial dreams sooner. ChangEd allows people with debt to link all their loans and spending accounts on one platform. We then analyze their debt load and develop...

The dental mirror is the single-most important tool for dentists and hygienists alike, but it hasn’t changed in form or function for more than 100 years. SmartMirror looks, feels and acts like a traditional dental mirror, but features pioneering technology that meets the needs of today’s dentists and patients alike....

TERA-print is a nanotechnology company that is unlocking the power of ultrahigh precision prototyping with their innovative desktop nanoprinters. This technology is disrupting the way next-generation come to life, such as miniaturized sensors 1/100th the size of your fingernail, highly accurate diagnostic tests for diseases from cancer to Alzheimer’s, and...

What started in 2003 as a mother’s vision to change the world’s perception of individuals with Down syndrome and create opportunities for her daughter, GiGi, evolved into a global movement of acceptance for all. GiGi’s Playhouse started in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and has catapulted to an entrepreneurial network of 60...

Our solution offers a platform that accelerates the process of collaborating on agreements, signing contracts utilizing electronic signatures and providing the easiest, most convenient way to pay. We may have finally replaced the fax machine and are swiftly on our way to automating many of the redundant and repetitive tasks...

The mission of the Chicago Furniture Bank (CFB) is to provide dignity, stability, and comfort to Chicagoans facing poverty by allowing our clients to handpick an entire home’s worth of furnishings for free. As the country’s largest furniture bank, we furnish 15 client homes per day through partnerships with our...

The Chicago Connectory is a co-creation space and IoT incubator located in Chicago’s historic Merchandise Mart. Our co-working space builds business, collaboration, and network opportunities to our community. The Chicago Connectory opened its doors in May 2017. The idea for the Chicago Connectory sparked with Bosch, a multinational engineering and...

Chicago HOPES for Kids is the only organization in Chicago that provides educational after school and remote learning programs for students experiencing homelessness in grades Kindergarten through 9th, directly to the shelters and communities where they live. It is our mission to provide students with the resources and encouragement they...