Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics & the inaugural Supply Chain Innovation Summit

Both events will spotlight Chicago’s status as a global capital for logistics tech & innovation

CHICAGO, Aug. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mayor Lightfoot joins World Business Chicago, 1871, and Accenture, in announcing two new events: the inaugural 1871 Supply Chain Innovation Summit with Accenture, October 5, and the inaugural Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics by World Business Chicago, October 5-6.

“Chicago has long been heralded as the world’s best transportation, distribution, and logistics, hub,” said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “The Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics will put this history on display and allow the City, World Business Chicago, and 1871 to show the world how Chicago is leading the way globally in capital investments for logistics tech.”

• The inaugural Supply Chain Innovation Summit by 1871 and Accenture will be held at 500 W Madison St, Chicago, Illinois on October 5. This is the first dedicated program of 1871’s over-arching Industry Lab experience, which brings together early and growth stage companies with industry leaders and accelerates emerging tech businesses involved in supply chain.
• World Business Chicago will host the city’s flagship startup and venture capital conference, the Chicago Venture Summit, at 167 Green in Chicago’s Fulton Market District this October 5-6, 2022. The summit will connect local founders with venture capital firms, investors, and Fortune 500 leaders; showcasing the city’s thriving logistics startup ecosystem, and promote Chicago as a global destination for founders, innovators, and investors. This is the second sector-specific summit of 2022, following the inaugural Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Food this past May 25-26, 2022.

“Chicago is the country’s leading transportation and logistics hub. From a central location to our diverse talent pipeline and rapidly expanding tech and innovation, logistics tech companies and startups are well positioned for success here,” said Michael Fassnacht, President and CEO of World Business Chicago, and Chief Marketing Officer for the City of Chicago. “With an 802% increase in growth capital between 2019 and 2021, we’re excited to host investors, corporate innovators, and founders from around the world at the inaugural Chicago Venture Summit, Future of Logistics.”

The events follow the Chicago Business Bulletin publication from World Business Chicago Research Center that reports an 802 percent increase in logistics tech growth capital since 2019 in the Chicago area, stemming from an upsurge in e-commerce, the global supply chain crisis, and increased demand for emerging and accelerated tech like blockchain. Chicago’s logistics tech ecosystem has raised $1.38B in growth capital 2021, up from just $0.15B in 2019. Chicago’s growth capital investment in logistics tech beat out New York by 301 percentage points between 2019-2021. Over 100 locally headquartered logistics-focused companies employ over 34,000 individuals in the Chicago region.

“Chicago’s logistics tech sector represents a core aspect of our innovation and startup ecosystem,” said Mark Tebbe, Chair of World Business Chicago’s Innovation & Venture Council. “We’re home to some of the best founders who are driving innovation and solving some of the world’s most significant challenges when it comes to supply chain, logistics, and distribution.”

This collaboration between World Business Chicago and 1871 led for both the Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics and the first annual Supply Chain Innovation Summit with Accenture occurring the same week in October 2022. The Supply Chain Innovation Lab is the first dedicated program of 1871’s over-arching Industry Lab experience, bringing together early and growth stage companies with industry leaders and accelerates emerging tech businesses involved in supply chain. Accenture is a World Business Chicago board member.

“Our community of innovators is uniquely equipped to come together to tackle today’s most pressing challenges because 1871 serves the entire business maturity curve, from idea all the way to Fortune 50,” said Betsy Ziegler, CEO of 1871. “There is no problem we can’t solve when we activate the power of our collective brain. We look forward to bringing leaders & entrepreneurs together and empower them to create the supply chain solutions that will build a brighter future in our city and beyond.”

“The supply chain and logistics sector is on the cusp of a total reinvention – and Chicago is uniquely positioned to lead on innovation with an extensive footprint across transportation, distribution, logistics, manufacturing, and warehousing,” said Renato Scaff, Senior Managing Director and North America Supply Chain and Operations Lead at Accenture. “We are thrilled to support the inaugural Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics and the local startups and companies who are reimagining the future of supply chains.”

World Business Chicago is proud to announce 1871, Accenture, CBRE, Cooley, Microsoft, Consulate General of Canada, Loadsmart, Shapack Partners, Techstars, and Uber Freight as presenting sponsors for Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics. Innovation sponsors include MxD, P33, and TechNexus Venture Collaborative. Startup Sponsors include Cook County, Chicago Connectory, Choose DuPage, City Colleges of Chicago, Clique Studios, Discovery Partners Institute, Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Grainger College of Engineering of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, Kane County Development & Community Services Department, Kendall County, Lake County Partners, McHenry County Economic Development Corporation, Toronto Stock Exchange. and Will County Center for Economic Development. Venture Partners include BLCK VC, Chicago: Blend, Chicago Ventures, Decasonic, Drive Capital, Gen Z VCs, HPA, Hyde Park Venture Partners, LatinX VC, Lofty Ventures, and VCFamilia.

“Chicago has witnessed phenomenal growth of our local innovation and startup ecosystem,” said Brad Serot, Vice Chair of CBRE and Leader of its Chicago Tech and Digital Media Practice Group. “And with the first-ever Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logisitics, CBRE is proud to join World Business Chicago to invite the world to experience what makes the city a truly global destination for founders, innovators, and investors.”

“Driving innovation, especially in key sectors like logistics, requires global collaboration,” said Aaron Annable, acting Consul General of Canada in Chicago. “With Toronto and Chicago as long-time sister cities, we’re so proud to champion our startup ecosystems through the first-ever Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logisitics.”

“Loadsmart is excited and honored to be a presenting sponsor at the Chicago Venture Summit: Future-of-Logistics,” said Felipe Capella, CEO and CoFounder of Loadsmart. “As a thriving center of freight logistics, Chicago has been the ideal city for Loadsmart to further our mission to improve the world by making transportation more efficient, more sustainable, and less complicated.”

“Chicago has been a long-time home for Techstars, and we believe it’s one of the world’s best cities for founders and startups,” said Maëlle Gavet, CEO of Techstars. “By partnering with the Chicago Venture Summit series, we will be able to provide more opportunity to early stage founders in helping them to reach their full potential.”

“Chicago is the heart of the American transportation system, and the depth of technology and logistics talent in the region is unmatched,” said Lior Ron, Head of Uber Freight. “Since the opening of our Tech Innovation Hub and headquarters in the Old Post Office last year, we’re more committed than ever to the City of Chicago. We’re thrilled to deepen our roots in the city by participating in the first-ever Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics, and look forward to supporting the growth of the local business community into the future.”

This will be the third Chicago Venture Summit held at 167 Green in Chicago’s Fulton Market District, a 645,000-square-foot office building, developed by Shapack Partners and Focus and owned in partnership with Walton Street Capital. As a testament to its location and design, CCC Information Services, Foxtrot, and MoLo Solutions relocated their headquarters to 167 Green,  joining Kroll, WeWork, and other innovative companies. 167 Green features one of Chicago’s largest town hall spaces, which doubles as a full-size NBA basketball court on the top floor of the building, in addition to a rooftop terrace, sitting room, game room, and gym. 

“The Chicago Venture Summit represents why we’re passionate about our work: providing place and space for brilliant innovators to build and grow great companies,” said Jeff Shapack, Founder and CEO of Shapack Partners and World Business Chicago board member. “As one of the fastest growing and most exciting central social districts in the country, there is no better neighborhood for founders and investors than Chicago’s Fulton Market District.”

As part of World Business Chicago’s mission to drive inclusive economic growth, a portion of the proceeds from this year’s Chicago Venture Summit will be donated to Chicago Scholars, City Colleges of Chicago Foundation, and Elevated Chicago. You can learn more about the 2022 Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Logistics via www.ChicagoVentureSummit.com. Chicago Venture Summit registration for the invite-only investor, industry, and startup conference will open in the coming days. For more information, please contact Abin Kuriakose, World Business Chicago’s Executive Vice President for Innovation & Venture Strategy: [email protected]. You can learn more about the Supply Chain Innovation Summit via https://1871.com/event/supply-chain-innovation-summit.

ABOUT WORLD BUSINESS CHICAGO:

World Business Chicago serves a critical role in driving inclusive and equitable recovery throughout the city’s 77 neighborhoods, focused on high growth sectors: transportation, distribution, & logistics; manufacturing; healthcare & life sciences, and our local innovation, startup, & venture ecosystem. As the City of Chicago’s economic development agency, World Business Chicago leads corporate attraction & retention, workforce & talent, community impact, and promotion of Chicago as a leading global city. Supported by a council of 300+ local leaders, World Business Chicago’s portfolio of innovation & venture programs include: the Chicago Venture Summit series, Startup Chicago, ThinkChicago, and Venture Engine with the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition (ISTC). Follow World Business Chicago on LinkedIn for daily news and announcements on company relocation and expansion; industry and ecosystem growth, U.S. and world rankings, and more about Chicago’s economic progress.

ABOUT 1871:

1871 is Chicago’s technology hub and the #1 ranked private business incubator in the world. It exists to inspire, equip, and support early stage, growth scalers and innovators in building extraordinary businesses. 1871 is home to ~450 technology startups, ~300 growth stage companies, and ~1,500 members, and is supported by an entire ecosystem focused on accelerating their growth and creating jobs in the Chicagoland area. The member experience includes virtual and in person access to workshops, events, mentorship, and more. The nonprofit organization has 350 mentors available to its members, alongside access to more than 100 partner corporations, universities, education programs, accelerators, venture funds and others. Since its inception in 2012, more than 850 alumni companies are currently still active, 14,500 jobs created, and $3.5 billion in venture capital raised.

ABOUT ACCENTURE:

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud, and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Technology and Operations services, and Accenture Song — all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 710,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners, and communities. Visit us at accenture.com.

SOURCE World Business Chicago