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Don’t miss our exclusive coworking deal for Landon’s Loop readers above this week’s events section.
✍🏽 Welcome to Landon’s Loop: your weekly read on Chicago startups!
In this week’s newsletter #108:
- My upcoming conversation with Hallow CEO Alex Jones + the app’s Chicago origin story
- An exclusive co-working deal just for Landon’s Loop readers
- 5 startup events happening across Chicago this week
🔙 Highlights from Last Week
Peter Danenberg from Google DeepMind visited our office for a fireside! 👇🏽
Peter Danenberg from @GoogleDeepMind just landed in Chicago to talk Gemini, AI model convergence, and what the engineering landscape could look like in 2030.
— #Landon (#@landon20s)
12:24 AM • May 6, 2025
My podcast episode with Ventures by the Lake went live where we spoke about the state of venture in Chicago 👇🏽
I spoke with Samantha Lee (Chief of Staff at Discover Payments) at a UChicago Booth event about how AI is transforming payments 👇🏽
The New Pope and the World’s #1 Prayer App Have Chicago Roots
Next month, I’ll be interviewing Alex Jones, co-founder and CEO of Hallow. 🙏
Hallow was founded in 2018, and has become the world’s largest Catholic prayer and meditation app with over 500 million prayers prayed. It’s also proudly based in Chicago.
Hallow is a Drive Capital portfolio company, and I’m excited to sit down with Alex in front of a live founder audience to talk about what it’s taken to scale a faith-based platform with global reach.
But first, a bit of the Hallow origin story:
From Notre Dame to Chicago
Hallow began in 2018 when Alex Jones, Alessandro DiSanto, and Erich Kerekes, who are friends from Notre Dame, left careers in consulting and private equity to create a modern app designed for prayer.
I remember seeing the Hallow team working out of the Cameo office back when I was there. Even then, it was clear they were building something with real conviction.
Trained as a mechanical engineer, Alex turned to secular meditation apps in search of peace but they felt spiritually empty.
Around this time, he rediscovered ancient Catholic contemplative practices and built the first version of Hallow around them. He then teamed up with DiSanto and Kerekes, and the trio launched a Kickstarter, recorded early sessions with friends, and released Hallow on the App Store that December.
Becoming the #1 Downloaded App
Five years later, Hallow has been downloaded over 18m times and has powered more than a billion minutes of prayer across 150+ countries.
The app has also reached #1 on the App Store charts multiple times.
The app offers over 10,000 sessions, from daily rosaries and Gospel readings to guided meditations voiced by celebrities like Mark Wahlberg.
Hallow is a uniquely Chicago success story and proof that a few friends, a clear mission, and some code can change millions of lives.
It’s fitting that Chicago is also home to Pope Leo XIV, the newly elected pope. Another reminder of Chicago’s global influence.
Pope Leo XIV!!! From Chicago!
— #Alex at Hallow (#@alexathallow)
5:37 PM • May 8, 2025
My Fireside with Alex at Hallow
My live conversation with Alex is currently open exclusively to founders in Chicago. Registration is required, and space is limited / does not guarantee attendance.
Learn more below 👇
🚨 Looking for a place to work?
Enjoy an exclusive offer for Landon’s Loop readers from our friends at Industrious.
Industrious has 8 Chicago locations from Fulton Market and the Loop to Evanston. They combine flexible workspace with a premium experience.
Check out some of their office amenities:
Free daily breakfast and snacks
A/V-equipped meeting rooms
Unlimited color printing
Sound-proof phone booths
Luxury design in the common areas
Landon’s Loop reader perk: Sign up for any private office by June 1st and get a free 6-month coworking membership (a $2,394 value) for a friend or colleague!
Find out more below 👇🏽 👇🏽 👇🏽
📆 Events Around the City
Speed Pitch @ SoHo Tech Club
Monday
Dipalo Ventures HardTech Happy Hour
Tuesday
Chicago Data Night: Eve Jennings (City of Chicago)
Hosted by Drive Capital and UChicago DSI
Wednesday
Applying Behavioral Science to Your Work & Career
Wednesday
2Flo Ventures Health Equity Pitch Competition
Wednesday
🗞 Previous Newsletters:
👋 See you next week!
What’s going on in the 2025 venture market?
Where’s liquidity?
Are LPs still bullish on venture?
How are funds standing out beyond capital?
(I’m biased) but this is the sharpest venture breakdown you’ll find online courtesy of my partner @ChrisOlsenCMH.
— #Landon (#@landon20s)
4:23 PM • May 7, 2025
