Chicago Ventures

Congrats! 🎉 CV portfolio company Aeropay announces $20M Series B. Read more in TechCrunch below, and please join us in congratulating CEO and Founder Daniel Muller on the company's progress!

🎉 ZenBusiness COO & Co-founder Shanaz Hemmati has been named a #SilverStevie winner in Female Executive of the Year in this year's The Stevie® Awards "Entrepreneurship can be transformative, and I'm honored to be recognized alongside so many incredible women leaders worldwide," said Shanaz. "This award is a testament to the passion and innovation of our team, which works every day to support small business owners and make their journeys easier and more successful." Congratulations Shanaz and ZenBusiness! 👏

🧐 For a closer look at Sunbit's expansion into co-branded credit cards take a peek at this American Banker overview... 👀 "Now, the company is looking to diversify its business model with co-branded credit cards and build on its business-to-business-to-consumer customer acquisition strategy that it has leveraged for its own credit card offering, said Arad Levertov, co-founder and CEO of Sunbit. 'About a year ago, we started looking at which other markets hadn't been disrupted, and we looked at the co-branded card market," Levertov said. "This was an opportunity for us to disrupt this market, to bring the experience that we built with the retailer [to credit cards].'" #mustread #BNPL

🎉 Crain's Chicago Business honors SpotHero's Lynette Morales- senior director, engineering- on its list of #NotableLatinoLeaders 👏 Biggest professional win? "[Lynette] transitioned SpotHero's proprietary security system to a third-party solution, Auth0 by Okta, significantly enhancing user data privacy and security. This move contributed to the company surpassing $1 billion in parking reservations." 🚀 Congratulations Lynette and SpotHero!

🎉 OneRail is celebrating the festive season in style! First a Series C announcement, and now #OneRail has debuted at #19 on the @FreightWaves #FreightTech25! 🎉📈 "We are thrilled to be recognized on this impressive list of innovative companies transforming the logistics tech industry," OneRail Founder and CEO Bill Catania said. "We are proud of the growth and momentum we've built this year and are thankful to our customers, partners and investors for their support." Congrats, #TeamOneRail 🌟! We can't wait to see what you do next! 🚀 #Logistics #LastMileDelivery

🎁 Forbes has a great recommendation this holiday season for a "soul-nourishing gift for a woman who deserves more Me Time" – a Havenly gift card to help her "release the cognitive load of decorating or turn their space into a sanctuary." 🛋️💝 Sounds good to us! And supporting a great company founded by a rockstar female entrepreneur gives more festive joy ☃️

🎉 Congratulations OneRail on your $42 million in Series C funding, led by Aliment Capital 🚀📈 "OneRail has been expanding rapidly in an effort to keep rivals at bay. The firm's revenue has grown 254% since November 2022, and it's hired a slew of executives, including a chief financial officer, Ed Carse. OneRail claims that its service now reaches over 400 cities in the U.S. and Canada and is handling more than 250,000 deliveries a day for around 50 brands." More in TechCrunch from Kyle Wiggers ⤵️ #SeriesC #LogisticsTech #LastMileDelivery #OmnichannelFulfillment #TeamOneRail

🔎 Finding a parking spot in #Miami this holiday season is a lot like navigating the Everglades – it's easier if you have a guide. Thankfully, SpotHero is helping Floridians find their way... 🅿️😁 Mark Lawrence, CEO of SpotHero, highlighted a key insight from their journey: "What we realized is that it's not a lack of parking that's the issue; it's that there's too much parking, and people simply don't know where to find it. By partnering with various public entities, we can enhance visibility and simplify the parking process for everyone. With our technology, users can just scan their phone to enter, and when they're ready to leave, they scan again, allowing for a seamless exit." For more ⤵️ 

✅ Buy your ticket ✈️ ✅ Pack your bags 🧳 ✅ Reduce your sleep debt 💤 Are you ready to go this holiday season? @RiseScience's @jfkahn shares science-backed tips to get more sleep and energy while traveling... Check out Condé Nast Traveler for more ⤵️

❓❓ Are online reviews really such a big deal? 🤨 Yes! And G2 has the receipts... 🧾 Online reviews have a big impact on purchasing decisions, with 93% of customers reading reviews before buying 🧾 Businesses leveraging positive reviews see increased trust, higher conversion rates, and improved revenue 🧾 Encouraging feedback and managing online reputation are key to turning reviews into a powerful revenue-driving tool full story ⤵️