The beloved digital hub for start-ups is about to get a little love from on high: Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn are holding a luncheon Thursday for 1871’s leadership and the six member companies that collectively have secured $8.3M in new capital in early-stage funding. According to a release, three of those companies have graduated out of 1871.
The six startups that have raised this new funding are Caremerge, MarkITx, RocketMiles, SimpleRelevance, Tempesta Media and Whittl.com. CareMerge may represent how far 1871 reaches, its investments were lead by European entrepreneur, real-estate developer and art collector Grazyna Kulczyk of Poland, “with participation from another Switzerland-based investor,” according to a release.
“1871 is a hotbed of innovations producing great companies around Chicago,” said Emanuel in a release. “I look forward to continued great accomplishments.”
We all do.
This news comes just on the heels of 1871’s one-year anniversary in early May.
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as IFC’s comedy, film, and TV blogger, he's also a comedy-writing instructor for Second City and an adjunct professor in DePaul’s College of Computing and Digital Media. (He also co-runs a blog behind the DePaul class, DIY Game Dev.) He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
