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63rd Edition
📍 This Week’s Lineup:
🏁 Major Chicago Exits
📊 Chart of the Week
📆 Events Around the City
🔙 Previous Editions of the Driver’s Seat
🏁 Major Chicago Exits: Tegus and Tempus
The Chicago ecosystem is celebrating two major wins from this past week:
Tegus Acquisition by AlphaSense
Tegus, one of Chicago's fastest-growing startups, was acquired by AlphaSense for $930m.
Founded by twin brothers Michael and Thomas Elnick, Tegus moved to Chicago in 2018. The company saw significant growth, roughly 4x revenue between 2021 and 2023 and expanding to 580 employees.
Tegus was valued at $3.2B in 2022 and raised $110m from investors. The combined valuation with AlphaSense is now $4B after raising $650m in a funding round led by Viking Global Investors and BDT & MSD Partners.
Tempus IPO
Tempus AI raised $410m in its IPO, valuing the company at nearly $6.2B. They sold 11.1m Class A common shares at $37 each. The company is now listed in the NASDAQ under the ticker $TEM.
Tempus generated $320.7m in revenue in 2022 and $531.8m in 2023.
Founder and CEO Eric Lefkofsky retains significant control, owning 39% of Tempus, with 65% of voting power.
Impact on Chicago's Tech Scene
Wins like this will continue to catalyze Chicago's flywheel effect, where early employees now have the opportunity to launch and invest in new companies, fueling a cycle of innovation and growth.
At Drive Capital, we’re continuing to invest in the earliest of ideas. From there, we help founders go from 0 to 1. So if you’re an early founder, let’s chat!
📊 Chart of the Week
Between 2000 and 2022, the share of adults with college degrees in Chicago increased significantly from 25.5% to 43.7%, while the national average rose from 24.4% to 35.5%.
The gap between Chicago and the USA widened, with Chicago surpassing the national average by 1.1% in 2000, 5.1% in 2010, and 8.2% in 2022.
This growth represents a 78% increase in the number of degree holders in Chicago, adding approximately 360,000 people.
🗺️ Events Around The City
10 tech events for you this week:
AI Tinkerers June Meetup
Hosted by Drive Capital and AI Tinkerers Chicago
Tuesday
Consumer Products Meetup
Hosted by mHUB
Tuesday
Deep Tech Ventures Summit
Hosted by Polsky and Duality
Tuesday
BIO Timothy P. Walbert Competition & Showcase
Hosted by iBIO
Tuesday
The Compute Collective
Hosted by CC
Tuesday
Latin AI Builders Meetup in Chicago
Hosted by Drive Capital and Autonoma
Thursday
Founder Night Out: In-Person Startup Networking in Chicago
Hosted by Founder Institute network
Thursday
CHICAGO~ Women in Recruiting Community Launch Event
Hosted by Talent Collective
Thursday
1871 Juneteenth 2024
Hosted by 1871
Thursday
Summertime Chi Coworking Day
Hosted by TechNexus
Thursday
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