Hey friends,

We’re back with the 7th edition of the Driver's Seat, my weekly newsletter sharing exclusive insights into the dynamic world of Chicago startups and venture!

Before we dive in, thanks to those who attended our Generative AI event in NYC this past week.

It was nice exploring similarities between our two ecosystems, along with speaking with founders and investors in NYC about what makes Chicago unique.

I also got to attend Code Nation’s all-day Chicago Hackathon this past Saturday.

High school students from across the city were given the opportunity to collaborate in teams to create web apps with the guidance and support of volunteer technical mentors.

The event took place at Google’s Chicago HQ.

📍 Today’s Topics

1. Chart of the Week 📊

2. Chicago Universities on Top 🎓

3. The Shared DNA of Chicago and Toronto 🇨🇦 

4. Guess Who Visited Our Office 💼

5. Events Around the City 🗺

Have feedback? Just hit reply — I’d love to hear from you.

Let’s dive in! 🚙

📊 Chart of the Week

New data from CBInsights' State of Venture Q1'23 report showed that 4 of the 13 new unicorns created in the first three months of the year were AI startups.

This comes as no surprise given the increasing interest / investment in AI across all industries.

It's particularly great seeing Chicago has been one of the key players in this space, making significant strides to promote AI innovation and growth.

I personally believe there’s a MAJOR opportunity for Chicago and the greater Midwest to to take the lead in shaping the future of AI.

Why Chicago and the Midwest:

Leading Institutions Investing into Student Success in the Field of AI:

• UIUC was ranked the top-ranked institution for AI research in 2020.

• While visiting Purdue last week, I learned about their $100M Purdue Computes initiative, which seeks to establish the University as a top 10 Computer Science program focused on Physical AI and semiconductors.

Rich History in AI:

• Last week, I discussed the history of AI in Chicago, particularly focusing on how a key AI researcher at the University of Chicago played a pivotal role in co-founding MIT's AI Lab, and how another renowned AI researcher from the same university was a co-inventor of the programming language Lisp.

Enterprises Spending Billions on AI:

• Billions of dollars are being invested by companies across the country to provide their employees and customers with AI technology.

• One notable example is PWC, which recently announced a $1B investment in Generative AI.

• The Midwest is particularly promising, with nearly 100 top Fortune 500 companies located in this area. This presents a significant opportunity!

Unique Data From Our Diverse Industries:

• Chicago and the broader Midwest is home to many different industries that generate vast amounts of data.

• This data can be used to develop and train unique AI models.

• For example, manufacturing data can help optimize production processes, reduce waste, and improve quality control. Healthcare data can be used to improve patient outcomes, personalize treatment plans, and accelerate drug discovery.

A Growing AI community:

• I wanna make sure the conversation about AI continues in Chicago.

• Last November, we were early in hosting our first Generative AI event, which was timed perfectly with the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT.

• On Saturday, 1871 is hosting a ChatGPT and AutoGPT Hackathon (details below).

• Additionally, we’re organizing Chicago's first AI Palooza next week. Streaming details for the event will be announced in next week's Driver's Seat.

And on the total number of unicorns in Q1'23: while the number is low compared to previous years, it's important to remember that this industry is continuing to see a healthy correction from the craziness of 2021 and 2022.

This is a testament to the resilience / adaptability of true builders, as well as the continued need for innovative solutions to address the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Overall, steady growth is a positive sign for the future of the industry and the economy.

To close: it's likely that we'll see more exciting advancements and developments emerge from the AI space in the coming years, as startups continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with this transformative technology.

I want Chicago to be a hub for AI.

🎓 Chicago Universities on Top

The U.S News World Report released its annual ranking of the top ranked business schools in the U.S.

The top spots were secured by two of our prestigious universities: the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business claimed the number one spot in the rankings, maintaining its top ranking from last year.

Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management secured the second-place ranking, rising one spot from last year's rankings.

This points to our city's reputation as a hub of academic excellence and innovation in the field of business.

🇨🇦 The Shared DNA of Chicago and Toronto

My good friend George Khalife from the Toronto Stock Exchange recently published an informative piece discussing the relationship between Chicago and Toronto.

Both of which are among the largest and most rapidly expanding innovation ecosystems in North America.

I wanted to feature 6 of my favorite insights in this week's edition of the Driver's Seat:

• Chicago is Toronto’s second-largest trading partner and in 2020, the total trade value between the two cities was approximately $13.7B.

• Roughly 40 Chicago-based companies have an investor based in Toronto, and roughly 27 Toronto-based companies have an investor based in Chicago as of March 2023.

• Since 2012, 38 Toronto-area companies have acquired 54 Chicago-based companies.

• There are over 80 companies headquartered in Ontario with a Chicago office, and over 60 companies headquartered in Chicago with an Ontario office.

• Since 2012, companies headquartered in the Chicago metro area with a secondary Ontario office have raised over $295M USD in growth capital (includes seed funding, venture capital, and private equity). Similarly, companies headquartered in Ontario with a secondary office in Illinois have raised over $1.99B USD in growth capital.

• 23 Illinois-based founders attended Ontario universities.

💼 Guess Who Visited Our Office

🗺 Events Around the City

Food Foundry Demo Day

• Hosted by Food Foundry and Relish Works

• Wednesday May 3

• RSVP

Indie Hacker Happy Hour

• Hosted by Chicago Indie Hackers

• Wednesday May 3

• RSVP

Future of Food Summit

• Hosted by Chicago Indie Hackers

• Thursday May 4

• RSVP

ChatGPT and AutoGPT Hackathon

• Hosted by 1871

• Saturday May 6th

• RSVP

Reply directly to this email if you have a tech event you want featured in the Driver’s Seat!

👋 See you next time!

Thanks for making it this far! 😎

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