On the hunt for a job in the tech sector but you just don’t want to deal with the costs and commuting of California? We hear you. Luckily, Chicago–home to some of the best dining and coolest architecture in the U.S.–has become a major player in the tech field. Here are 10 tech companies in Chicago you need to check out.
Salesforce
Named #1 on Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces list for 2018, Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world’s #1 CRM, is a fast-growing cloud computing company–the fastest growing of the top 10 enterprise software companies, in fact. The San Francisco-based software company is significantly expanding their regional headquarters in Chicago with a new riverfront skyscraper, bringing at least 1,000 additional jobs to town over the next five years. Just imagine your new office view! And they give back, too–Salesforce.org has granted more than $1 million to support education and workforce development programs in Chicago, and Salesforce employees will volunteer 40,000 hours in Chicago next year alone.
You may have heard of this little company called Google before. Located in the city’s historic (and recently revived) West Loop neighborhood, Google’s Chicago HQ was transformed from a warehouse to a seven-floor office space. Each floor celebrates a different aspect of the city, from its famous parks to its iconic transit systems. Inside, roughly over 1,000 employees work across product, engineering, technical infrastructure, advertising, and more. Next year, Google will add a big block of office space in the Fulton Market district, further cementing Chicago’s standing as a key technology hub.
Grubhub Inc.
The nation’s leading online and mobile food ordering company platform, GrubHub, is dedicated to connecting hungry diners with local takeout restaurants. The company was #13 on Fortune’s list of the country’s 100 fastest-growing public companies in 2018, ahead of Netflix (#19), and barely trailing tech behemoths Amazon (#9) and Facebook (#6). With more than 14 million active diners, and approximately 80,000 restaurant partners in over 1,600 cities across the US and the UK, this Chicago-based tech company is showing no signs of slowing down. As of February 2018, Grubhub employed 2,125 people, roughly half of whom are in Chicago—and that number is growing.
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a software company that helps businesses manage their social presence from one central platform. The company’s social media management software solutions streamline and enhance a brand’s social media communication with their customers, employees, prospects, and community. Sprout Social has been headquartered in Chicago since 2016, where most of its 400 employees work, although they have team members across 25 cities worldwide. This year, the Chicago Tribune named it a Top Midsize Workplace for the fourth year in a row.
SpotHero
Anyone who’s lived in a major city knows that one of life’s greatest annoyances is trying to find a parking spot. That’s where SpotHero comes in. This parking reservation app easily lets you scope out nearby parking spots and shows you how much each is going to cost. No more hunting for a spot and missing your reservation. SpotHero is in more than 30 cities, and is the #1 downloaded parking reservation app. Plus, their benefits and office environment have won them a number of “best places to work” in Chicago awards.
Morning Consult
For those of you who read magazines or watch the news, the name Morning Consult is probably vaguely familiar to you. Started in 2013 in D.C., this rapidly growing tech company is revolutionizing how to collect, organize and share survey data, helping some of the world’s largest companies make extremely informed strategic decisions. They’ve just recently opened offices in New York City, San Francisco, and, most importantly, Chicago. With just under 100 employees currently, now is the time to get in.
Reverb
For musicians, buying instruments on Ebay and Craigslist has always been a crapshoot; are you getting what you’re paying for? Is it going to arrive in one piece? Reverb.com changed all of that. The owner of one of Chicago’s largest music stores, Chicago Music Exchange, started the site in hopes of creating a reliable, trustworthy, and transparent site for selling instruments and gear, and he succeeded. With over 150 employees and support teams worldwide, this is the perfect company for musicians with a love of technology.
Tock
OpenTable was revolutionary when it launched, but as users learned to abuse the system (such as making multiple reservations and cancelling at the last minute), it started hurting restaurants. One of the partners behind the world famous Alinea, Next, and The Aviary, Nick Kokonas, developed a new reservation system called Tock, which allows restaurants to better manage reservations and heavily cut back on cancellations and no-shows. Tock is continuously adding more restaurants (and countries—they’re in 20 now!) and functionality to the platform. Headquartered in Chicago, Tock is currently hiring.
Hearken
Every publication is looking for ways to develop stories that will have a deep level of engagement and attract more readers—it’s been that way forever. But Hearken is here to make that a reality with the “public-powered journalism.” That means listening to the public as a story goes from pitch to publications. The highly customizable platform ranges from allowing the public to submit questions for journalists to investigate to keeping a centralized Engagement Management System to hold all the key data and insights. The company launched in 2015 and has remained fairly small, but we’re bullish on them blowing up soon.
project44
Supply chain management improvement is the goal of pretty much any company involved in transportation and logistics, and none are having an impact quite like project44. Put simply, their goal is to create a smarter end-to-end shipping experience for freight shippers. They’re obviously doing something right, as they’ve recently acquired GateHouse Logistics and partnered with J.B. Hunt. The company was recently valued at nearly half a billion dollars, and with a brand new HQ that can hold up to 250 employees (and they’re currently at just over 100), now’s the time to get in!
Thinking of moving to Chicago and working at one of these tech companies? Take the next step and find your apartment before you start your new job.
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