Partners

midVentures Group

midVentures is a Chicago-based venture consulting firm that openly incubates new startups by fostering an innovation community and connecting startups to the developers, investors and corporate partners needed to accelerate their businesses.

Pasky IP Law LLC

Pasky IP specializes in providing intellectual property and technology/business legal services to entrepreneurs and emerging, mid-market and institutional clients.

Illinois Technology Association

The ITA represents the interests of a diverse of more than 550 companies in Illinois that create, deploy and utilize information technology as a core part of their organization.

Goldstein Caldwell & Associates

Goldstein, Caldwell & Associates is a Cleveland-based seed capital investment and business development company that helps young entrepreneurs turn their ideas into viable businesses.

Sponsors

SingleHop

SingleHop, Inc. is one of Chicago’s fastest growing tech companies and the nations fastest growing dedicated hosting provider. The full-service managed dedicated hosting provider has grown by focusing on the principal of providing cost-effective dedicated servers, backed by world-class networks and technologies like the LEAP system which offers mobile, desktop, webtop, and widget access for the management of dedicated servers, including automated functions for complex tasks like RDNS, SSL acquisition, and even an on-demand firewall among others. The company was founded by Zak Boca and Dan Ushman in 2006 and currently hosts hundreds of thousands of websites from over 100 countries. Being a vital partner in IT incubation SingleHop offers all clients a dedicated Account Executive, and developed the à la Carte Server Management Program, which is a full-array of transparent management services designed and tested to allow clients to tailor their level of support to their exact needs or expertise.

Google

Google Inc. is a multinational public cloud computing and Internet search technologies corporation. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program. The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while the two were attending Stanford University as Ph.D. candidates. It was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998, with its initial public offering to follow on August 19, 2004. The company’s stated mission from the outset was “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”, and the company’s unofficial slogan – coined by Google engineer Paul Buchheit – is “Don’t be evil.” In 2006, the company moved to their current headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Pathfinder Development

Pathfinder develops custom software. We partner with startups and global 2000 companies to rapidly bring breakthrough products and services to market. Great design, agile development, class A talent, and the experience that comes from hundreds of successful software releases are what we bring to the table. Whether it’s designing and developing new types of applications for the Apple iPad, launching advanced data visualization and mapping software, or creating a financial products marketplace for millions of users, innovators partner with Pathfinder for success.

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its most profitable products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. The company was founded in 1975, to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. Microsoft rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Windows line of operating systems. Many of its products have achieved near-ubiquity in the desktop computer market.

CLEAR

CLEAR is the brand name for next generation mobile internet products and services offered by Clear Wireless, LLC. Combined with significant spectrum holdings, our WiMAX network provides unmatched capacity to deliver next generation broadband access. Partnering with industry leading partners and investors such as: Intel Capital, Comcast, Sprint, Google, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, and Samsung, we are working so you can get online hassle-free wherever you go. Headquartered in Kirkland, WA, our company is dedicated to bringing you the latest in mobile internet technology.

Inventables

Inventables is a web site where vendors of materials can create free online profiles for their products in order to generate sales leads. Potential customers looking to source new materials and technologies browse through these profiles daily and submit inquiries about products they are interested in. Vendors are notified by email each time their Inventables profile receives a new inquiry and given an opportunity to purchase the corresponding sales lead. We recently closed a $2M series A investment from True Ventures in San Francisco and we’re hiring Ruby on Rails software engineers.

ChicagoMicro

ChicagoMicro specializes in Network, Storage, Power, And Cooling Solutions. We also provide Hardware and Software Sales, Application Development, Server and Desktop Management, Managed Services and IP Telephony Solutions to companies across ChicagoLand as well as NationWide. ChicagoMicro offers the hardware, software and technical expertise to deliver end-to-end solutions, simplifying IT sourcing and speeding deployment. ChicagoMicro is one of the fastest growing and most respected IT Professional Services Firms in Chicago, IL. In our online store you will find quick access to over 500,000 IT products. We are also proud to be partners with quality brands like Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Symantec, Dell, CA, Emerson, Liebert, Generac and others. We invite you to take advantage of all that our company has to offer, including dedicated Sales Reps, highly trained specialists, real time availability, and most important, a company that always picks up the phone.

Illinois Institute of Technology – Knapp Entrepreneurship Center

The mission of the IIT – Knapp Entrepreneurship Center is to be Chicago’s leading professional support services center for IIT-related entrepreneurs by providing effective, affordable, and expert resources to help create and grow successful commercial ventures. IIT-KEC is a collaborative community of supporters of entrepreneurial ventures. The Knapp Center was designed to support a swift and significant expansion of entrepreneurial activity at and around IIT. By leveraging the Center’s resources, those seeking assistance from the Jules F. Knapp Entrepreneurship Center can solidify their business’s structure, develop a sound launch strategy, increase time to value, reduce risk, maximize valuation, protect original founders as the company grows, prepare for and take on smart investment, scale their enterprise, and benefit from the economies of scale and established networks of IIT and the Knapp Entrepreneurship Center.

RemixGalaxy.com

RemixGalaxy.com is the leading online community for music remixing and production. The site includes an entirely new category of digital music sales by bringing to market songs for sale as multi-track files, where the individual musical elements of a song (vocals, bass, drums, guitar, etc.) are provided in separate audio files, giving music fans the ability to customize or remix the song. Fully licensed and created from the original master recordings, this signature offering (1) provides music labels and artists a new source of revenue, (2) forges connections with music fans by allowing them to participate in the creative process alongside the artist and (3) enables both music and non-music brands to access our platform for promotional purposes. In addition, RemixGalaxy hosts its mixStudio browser-based music production software, a simple yet powerful application for creating and mixing music online. With mixStudio, anyone, regardless of experience, can become a producer in minutes. At RemixGalaxy.com, music is no longer a spectator sport, and everyone has the opportunity to be heard!

Peter Wilkins, Hyde Park Angels

Peter Wilkins is the founder of Omaxen Group. Omaxen provides consulting services to private equity and venture capital firms seeking to rapidly grow start-ups or turn around struggling portfolio companies. Peter is passionate about working with businesses that create social and economic value. He recently partnered with Sterling Partners to launch an exciting new venture that specializes in helping young Latino adults and their parents build pathways to achieve education and career success. This partnership highlights Peter’s history of developing relationship with strong partners to successfully build promising new businesses

Obtiva

Obtiva provides agile software development services for companies that need to create custom web and mobile applications. Obtiva developers strengthen customer teams on-site by providing specialized skill sets and languages in many areas such as; Ruby on Rails, Java, iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre mobile development, agile project management, Test Driven Development, and technical coaching. Customers can also count on the Obtiva Studio for full life-cycle development from planning to delivery. Our experienced team, share their knowledge of XP, Agile, and innovative new technologies by leading scheduled and on-site training throughout North America. For information please contact us at 630-588-8622 or visit www.obtiva.com.

TrainSignal

Train Signal is one of the leading providers of computer based training for IT professionals worldwide. Founded in 2002, Train Signal offers a wide range of training courses covering Microsoft, Cisco, VMware and CompTIA.

OCA Ventures

OCA Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on equity investments in companies with dramatic growth potential, primarily in technology and highly-scalable services businesses. OCA invests in many industries, with a preference for financial services and for-profit education. Over the last decade, OCA has invested three funds in over 30 companies. OCA is based in Chicago and has investments throughout the United States.

Classic Informatics

Classic Informatics Private Limited is a global IT service provider with over 7 years of offshore development and consultancy experience. Binding to our motto ‘innovation through intelligence’, we specialize in diverse software and web development solutions. When it comes to creativity and innovation, CIPL speaks success. Located in New Delhi, it was established in the year 2002 and continues to grow.

Media Partners

TECH cocktail

TECH cocktail started as a community building event founded in May 2006 by Frank Gruber and Eric Olson. Since 2006, TECH cocktail has been hosting mixer events and covering technology start-ups across the country with the focus of helping to amplify the local technology signal. TECH cocktail is aimed at helping build and strengthen local tech start-up communities both online and off. TECH cocktail has hosted large events in Chicago, DC, Boston, Boulder, San Diego, Barcelona and more.

TheNextWeb

The Next Web launched in January 2008 as a spin off of The Next Web Conference. Soon after, the site took a life of its own and the potential for a technology site from an international perspective became a reality. The growth of the site over the past year has been a testament to that, and we now currently serve 1,250,000 unique visitors a month.

GoodrichPR

Goodrich Public Relations was formed in 2009 to help enterprises large and small get noticed in the right places for the right things. We measure our success by your success. In a world where results are everything, our traditional and social media campaigns are measurable in influence and ROI. We also realize your story is your strength. We help you capitalize on it. Then you become the go-to source for writers, editors, producers and the public.

AJRJ Photography

Founded in an Evanston cafe in January of 2008, AJRJ Photography has been a growing partnership. Initially run out of Robin’s condo the partners now have a photo studio and offices in the West Loop. Since beginning the two have shot for clients as diverse as wedding clients, the Laurie Garden in Millennium Park, Heron Adornment and the Chicago Street Musicians Organization, among others. Their well-rounded experiences have made them versatile and adaptive photographers, able to accurately create the image that their clients envision.

Exhibitors

Cuddle Puzzles

Cuddle Puzzles is a platform of captivating in-app puzzles that create measurable results around three distinct activities during in-app use: Attraction, Traction, Distraction and the Retention activities of your past, current and future customers.

Debate a Day

Debate a Day is a new site that aims to bring the art of debate and conversation to a whole new level. It is community focused, community driven, and thrives on the passion and knowledge of its’ users.  The founder Robbie Abed developed this site after frustration of reading so many opinionated blogs whose authors were only ever debated in the user comments beneath their blog post.  Debate a Day plans to bring accountability back to bloggers, and more importantly build experts within industries.  The overall concept is simple: One debate a day, on one hot topic between two knowledgeable people and the community votes the winner.  The debaters will get prime real estate on the day of their debate which will include their picture, their company URL, blog URL, twitter alias and any other information the debater wants to share.  Debaters are encouraged to spread the word to get as many votes for their debate as possible.  Sponsored debate tournaments will also be held, where the winner will receive a cash prize.

EverybodySafe

EverybodySafe.com is a collection of online services to alert friends, family, business associates, and loved ones in the event of emergency. EverybodySafe.com fills a gap in the current health care and emergency response system and brings “in case of emergency” into the 21st century. EverybodySafe.com uses e-mail, text messaging, phone calls and Facebook to make sure that everyone who needs to be informed will be. Users receive ID cards, stickers and dog tags with their EverybodySafe.com ID number. In the event of a personal emergency such as accident, illness or injury, Emergency workers call the 800-number and EverybodySafe.com makes contact as well as supplies the emergency worker with necessary information.

Forward Momentum

Forward Momentum, LLC is an exciting, fast-growing company that owns and creates successful “micro-niche” e-commerce websites. We focus on identifying, expanding and producing creative new products for these e-commerce micro-niches. We had a growth rate of approximately 723% in 2009. We also create specialized custom creations for some of the most successful movie studios of all time. In addition, we invest significant amounts of resources in creating a “sustainable giving” business model that allows us to increase our contributions to making the world a better place as we continue to grow our business.

MedCity News

MedCity News creates content for people who care about healthcare: through traditional media who need content for their audiences, directly to stakeholders through an industry leading online portal, and by producing custom-made material for anyone who needs healthcare content.

MoneyThink

Moneythink is a financial literacy mentoring organization that connects talented college mentors to inner-city high schoolers. Through peer-mentoring, students learn the basics of saving, budgeting, goal-setting and the basics of credit and debt. The Moneythink curriculum features sections on economics, investing, personal finance and entrepreneurship. Mentors engage and educate students through interactive discussions, computer research activities, and mock finance simulations.  Through “MoneyThinking”, students develop financial life skills while building confidence in critical thinking, basic mathematical analysis and public speaking.

Top