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The Full List of 18 Unicorn Startups in Chicago (2026)

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Chicago's startup ecosystem includes 18 unicorns, with notable concentrations in enterprise software and fintech. Among them is legal tech firm Relativity, valued at $4 billion, and lending platform Avant, which has secured $2.1 billion in funding.

Other relevant startups include supply chain company project44, which has raised $942.9 million, and ActiveCampaign, which is valued at $3 billion.

Below is the full list of 18 Chicago unicorn startups at this time.

Top 10 Most Valuable Chicago Unicorns

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Relativity creates software to help legal teams manage and analyze large volumes of data. Their e-discovery platform is used to identify key evidence for litigation, internal investigations, and compliance matters.

Valuation$4B (Joined March 2021)
Year Founded2001
FoundersAndrew Sieja
Funding Amount$125M
Company SizeMajor Organization (1,001-5,000)
Last Funding StatusPrivate Equity
Top InvestorsPermira, ICONIQ Growth, Silver Lake

project44 operates a supply chain visibility platform that acts as the connective tissue for global logistics. Their technology gives shippers and logistics providers a single source of truth to track shipments and manage exceptions in real time.

Valuation$3B (Joined June 2021)
Year Founded2014
FoundersJett McCandless, Wally Ibrahim
Funding Amount$942.9M
Company SizeLarge Team (251-1,000)
Last Funding StatusVenture Round
Top InvestorsSapphire Ventures, Insight Partners, Emergence Capital, TPG, Thoma Bravo

ActiveCampaign builds a customer experience automation platform designed to help businesses connect and engage with their customers. Their software combines email marketing, marketing automation, and sales automation tools into a single, integrated system.

Valuation$3B (Joined April 2021)
Year Founded2003
FoundersJason VandeBoom
Funding Amount$360M
Company SizeLarge Team (251-1,000)
Last Funding StatusSeries C
Top InvestorsSusquehanna Growth Equity, Tiger Global Management, Dragoneer Investment Group, Silversmith Capital Partners

Kin Insurance provides homeowners insurance directly to consumers through its digital platform. They specialize in using data to create customized and affordable policies for homes, including those in regions prone to natural disasters.

Valuation$2B
Year Founded2016
FoundersLucas Ward, Sean Harper, Sebastian Villarreal, Stephen Wooten
Funding Amount$753.2M
Company SizeLarge Team (251-1,000)
Last Funding StatusSeries E
Top InvestorsQED Investors, 500 Global, Gaingels, Wellington Management, Flourish Ventures

Avant operates an online lending platform that provides personal loans and credit cards to consumers. They are known for using a technology-first approach to make financial products more accessible and easier to manage.

Valuation$2B (Joined December 2012)
Year Founded2012
FoundersAl Goldstein, Al Goldstein, John Sun, Paul Zhang
Funding Amount$2.1B
Company SizeLarge Team (251-1,000)
Last Funding StatusPrivate Equity
Top InvestorsTiger Global Management, Founders Fund, JP Morgan Chase, General Atlantic, QED Investors

Pathos develops an AI-powered platform to accelerate the discovery of new oncology drugs. Their technology uses machine learning to analyze complex biological data, helping bring potential cancer therapies to clinical trials faster.

Valuation$2B (Joined May 2025)
Year Founded2020
FoundersEric Lefkofsky, Ryan Fukushima
Funding Amount$447M
Company SizeLean Team (11-50)
Last Funding StatusSeries D
Top InvestorsNew Enterprise Associates, Lightbank, Revolution Growth, Builders VC

Uptake builds industrial intelligence software that helps companies in sectors like mining and energy manage their heavy machinery. Their platform delivers AI-powered insights to predict equipment failures and optimize overall asset performance.

Valuation$2B
Year Founded2014
FoundersBradley Keywell
Funding Amount$218M
Company SizeMid-Size Team (51-250)
Last Funding StatusSeries D
Top InvestorsNew Enterprise Associates, GreatPoint Ventures, Lightbank, BloombergNEF, Baillie Gifford

Loadsmart developed a freight technology platform that helps shippers digitize transportation and logistics. They connect shippers and carriers to help lower costs, increase efficiency, and streamline the supply chain.

Valuation$1.3B (Joined February 2022)
Year Founded2014
FoundersFelipe Capella, Ricardo Salgado
Funding Amount$346.4M
Company SizeLarge Team (251-1,000)
Last Funding StatusUndisclosed
Top InvestorsBlackRock, FJ Labs, Janus Henderson Investors, Alumni Ventures, CSX

Nerdio develops cloud management solutions that help IT professionals streamline their Microsoft Azure environments. They specialize in virtual desktop optimization to help businesses reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.

Valuation$1.2B (Joined March 2025)
Year Founded2016
FoundersJoseph Landes, Vadim Vladimirskiy
Funding Amount$625M
Company SizeLarge Team (251-1,000)
Last Funding StatusSeries C
Top InvestorsLead Edge Capital, General Atlantic, StepStone Group, Updata Partners, MK Capital

Copado offers an end-to-end DevOps platform built natively for the Salesforce ecosystem. Their solution allows development teams to automate release processes, manage testing, and maintain security and compliance.

Valuation$1.2B (Joined September 2021)
Year Founded2013
FoundersFederico Larsen, Philipp Rackwitz
Funding Amount$270.8M
Company SizeLarge Team (251-1,000)
Last Funding StatusSeries C
Top InvestorsSoftBank Vision Fund, Declaration Partners, Isai, Insight Partners, Salesforce Ventures

The Remaining 8 Unicorns Founded in Chicago

The ten most valuable companies only tell part of Chicago's story. Another group of unicorns has collectively raised over $2.4 billion to grow their businesses.

These companies are working in a wide range of fields, from finance to food tech. Here is a closer look at the other startups that make Chicago’s tech scene so strong.

Unicorn StartupMain IndustryYear FoundedAmount RaisedValuation
G2 logo G2Enterprise2012$257.6M$1.1B
zerohash logo zerohashCrypto2017$282.1M$1B
Clearcover logo ClearcoverInsurTech2016$457.2M$1B
ShipBob logo ShipBobRetail2014$330.5M$1B
VectorBuilder logo VectorBuilderBiotech2015CN¥410M$1B
FourKites logo FourKitesAI2014$241.5M$1B
M1 Holdings logo M1 HoldingsFintech2015$323.2M$1B
Nature's Fynd logo Nature's FyndAgTech2012$509.6M$1B

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