News

Why The University Of Illinois Is A Top College For Entrepreneurs

The University of Illinois has an incredible history of producing world-class startups and cutting-edge technologies. The university is also renowned for cultivating bright, purpose first entrepreneurs who are making a positive impact on the world. These innovators have founded companies that are among the most recognized brands around the globe. The university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem supports idea development […]

How tastytrade Helps Retail Investors Navigate Uncharted Markets

The pool of self-directed investors has surged during the past few years. By some estimates, 20 million new retail investors have entered the market thanks to a combination of several factors —the rise of mobile trading apps and online communities, the gamification of investing, and COVID-19 lockdowns. Most of this new class of investors only […]

FourKites secures strategic investment from FedEx

We are excited to announce that FourKites, the global supply chain visibility platform, received a strategic investment from FedEx. The amount was not disclosed publicly. This alliance will provide both businesses with additional robust real-time visibility capabilities to help solve their most pervasive supply chain challenges, become more efficient, and unlock new growth opportunities.

Rheaply raises $20M in new funding

We are excited to share that Rheaply, an award-winning resource management and asset exchange platform, today announced raising $20 million in funding. HPA participated in the round, which was led by Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund with participation from John Doerr and Coupa Software, in addition to other previous investors.

The Future Of Food Starts In Chicago

Chicago is a leader in food and agriculture innovation. From high-profile startups to the established industry leaders, the city is uniquely poised for continued innovation within the food ecosystem as demonstrated by the Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Food event last week. To provide some background, Chicago’s food and beverage manufacturing industry is the nation’s largest, generating […]

Sifter raises $5M in Series Seed Round

We’re excited to share that Sifter, the industry-leading Nutrition as a Service™ platform, today announced raising $5M in funding. HPA participated in the Series Seed round, which was led by Valor Siren Ventures with additional participation from Wintrust Ventures. The new round of funding will help Sifter accelerate the growth of the Nutrition as a Service™(NaaS) platform and launch of Sifter Retailer Solutions.

Chicago:Blend Spotlight Series: Option Pool Strategy

Highly motivated employees are a critical driver to support founders in the growth of the business. So how do you incentivize talent at a startup? Teams are a critical component to business growth. When talented people are in the right roles with the proper incentives, startups are poised for success. Option pools help drive companies forward, which leads to better results for everyone involved.

20 Top Innovators Building The Chicago Crypto And Web3 Ecosystem

From NFTs to token sales and memes, there is no shortage of hype around crypto. Beneath this noise, though, Chicago has been hard at work creating a premier crypto and Web3 ecosystem driven by purposeful public and private leadership. Building on the momentum of being recognized as one of the country’s leading innovation hubs last year, Chicago […]

May 11, 2022 By Pete Wilkins