Illinois Technology Association Spotlight Stage

SPEAKERJulia Kanouse, Illinois Technology Association (ITA)

State of Chicago TechJULIA KANOUSE, CEOILLINOIS TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

Who is ITA?

We elevate the local tech community and make Illinois THE place for tech companies to thrive.We help our 500 members build their teams, promote their businesses and collaborate with like-minded tech entrepreneurs.

Chicago Tech by the

Numbers

• 14,000 tech businesses• 350,000 tech workers• 2nd most innovative city in the US• 1871 ranked #1 incubator in the

world• Google, Facebook, Linked In,

Salesforce, Pinterest, Uber, Yelp and Microsoft all have offices in Chicago

Building a Tech Hub

Capital

Talent

Ecosystem

Government

CapitalThe Midwest Is the Biggest Venture Capital Presence Outside of California. Chicago leads the nation with the largest number of exits that produced returns over 10x.

Illinois Leads the Midwest Venture Capital Ecosystem. At $1.94B in dollars invested across 227 deals in 2017, Illinois startups received more investment than all other Midwest states combined.

Illinois Sees Greater Investor Returns and Lower Company Operating Costs Than Rest of Nation. This trend has been going on since 2014 and represents a flight to quality.

Talent

University System

• 44 computer science programs in IL

• 800 start-ups spun out of universities

• Top schools – Northwestern, University of Chicago, UICU

Attract & Retain• Cost of living• Boomerang effect• Complex business problems• Midwest values in a big city

Ecosystem

• Start-Ups – 500 per year• Tech Leaders – Motorola, Groupon,

Grubhub, Guaranteed Rate• Growth Stage – Narrative Science,

Tempus• Corporations – 36 of Fortune 500 and

100+ companies with $100 - $1 B in revenue

Government• “Tech-lash”

• Public safety

• Privacy

• Pro-business mayor

What’s Next?

• INCREASED COLLABORATION• BIGGER EXITS / HIGHER VALUATIONS• CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES• TALENT MIGRATION