Polsky News

The Chicago Tribune has published a story on GrubHub's new ordering app for Apple TV. The free app allows users to view menus through their Apple TV while watching shows or movies and order as a group. GrubHub was founded by Matt Maloney, MS '00, MBA '10 and completed its IPO in April 2014 (NYSE: GRUB). It won the Edward L. Kaplan, '71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) in 2006. Maloney was quoted as saying that this app is designed for convenience for group ordering. Read more »

ChicagoInno took a look at Swingbyte and their new Virtual Coach product that is being released this month. Swingbyte is a device that records elements of a golf swing (including speed, angle, and tempo) and transmits them to an app via Bluetooth. The company’s new Virtual Coach program builds off the data collected from Swingbyte and uses Artificial Intelligence to make suggestions on corrections. Swingbyte was founded by Alex Pedenko, MBA '13, and Nathan Wojtkiewicz, MBA '13, and was a finalist in the 2012 Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) Read more »

The Chicago Maroon published a piece on Cubii, the under-desk-elliptical founded by Arnav Dalmia, AB ’13, Shivani Jain, AB ’13, and Ryota Sekine, AB ’13. Cubii took second place at the College New Venture Challenge (CNVC) in 2013, which Jain credits with giving them the resources to further develop and refine their product. She explains how the NVC gave Cubii validation, and resulted in exposing them to a network of investors and advisors who are still helping them today. Cubii also participated in the 2013 Polsky Center Accelerator Program. Cubii is planning to ship to their 1,500 Kickstarter preorders in mid-November. Read more »

The River City News published a piece on BallotReady and their presence in Northern Kentucky ahead of the state’s elections on Tuesday. BallotReady, the online voting guide for local elections, is in the midst of its “Vote Informed” tour where they are visiting six college campuses in Kentucky in the days leading up to Election Day. Cofounder and CEO, Alex Niemczewski, AB ’09, spoke to the paper about BallotReady’s mission to inform voters on local elections and how she hopes their tool will help voters fill out their entire ballot in every election. BallotReady participated in the Polsky Center I-Corps program in 2014-15, won first place at the John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) in 2015, and participated in the 2015 Polsky Center Accelerator Program this past summer. Read more »

Chicago Tribune took a look at the Chicago-connected companies that have appeared on ABC's Shark Tank. One company featured is LuminAID, which was founded by current Booth student, Andrea Sreshta, won the John Edwardson, '72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) in 2012, and participated in the Polsky Center Entrepreneurship Internship Program (EIP) in 2013. LuminAID made a $200,000 deal with Mark Cuban after their Shark Tank appearance and, according to Sreshta, have been in communication with Cuban and his team weekly since the show. Read more »

ChicagoInno published a piece on Foxtrot, which today announced $1.1M in funding and the opening of a flagship brick-and-mortar location in the West Loop. Foxtrot is a curated delivery service that was founded by Michael LaVitola, MBA ’14, and Brian Jaffee, MBA '14, and took part in the Edward L. Kaplan, '71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) in 2013. This will be Foxtrot's second brick-and-mortar location and is expected to open on November 16. Read more »

Crain’s Chicago Business profiled VirtualKey in their weekly “New in Chicago” series. VirtualKey, a finalist at the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) in 2015 and participant in this summer’s Polsky Center Accelerator Program, is a smart and secure way to exchange keys between hosts and guests during short-term rentals through sites like Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway. VirtualKey is currently in their beta testing phase and is planning a January public launch. Read more »

The University of Chicago has published a profile on the university website about Cubii, the under-desk elliptical, and their alumni cofounders. The piece details Cubii’s beginnings at the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC), their successful Kickstarter which raised nearly $300,000, and plans for their upcoming launch. Cubii was founded by Arnav Dalmia, AB ’13, Shivani Jain, AB ’13, and Ryota Sekine, AB ’13, and took second place at the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) in 2013. Read more »

Inc. released a list of seven startups that are working to change some of the antiquated processes surrounding Election Day in order to increase voter turnout. Included on the list is BallotReady, which has begun rolling out their online voter education guides in Kentucky and Virginia. BallotReady was started by Alex Niemczewski, AB ’09 and Aviva Rosman and won first place at the John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) in 2015. Read more »

ChicagoInno listed its top 150 nominees for its 50 on Fire awards featuring CEOs and heads of customer support, early-stage start-ups and established enterprises, incubators, and non-profits. This list is a celebration of the top innovators and influencers in tech, education, marketing, healthcare, food, and more. Nominees with close ties to the Polsky Center include BallotReady, Braintree, Rise Interactive, ExplORer, GrubHub and Eastman Egg Company. In addition, the Polsky Center, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary of the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) this year has been nominated. The top winners will be announced at an award ceremony in December. Read more »