Chicago crowned as one of the top tech hubs in the world (Washington: tech jobs, schools)

[flamadiddle]

Chicago’s tech prowess is getting more recognition from the world’s tech scene. A new report from KPMG surveyed more than 800 tech leaders and found that Chicago is in the top 10 of tech innovation hubs worldwide.

https://www.builtinchicago.org/2017/...ampaign=buffer

[Hkhan21]

Finally, not many people recognize the tech startups and tech talent we have in downtown Chicago. Big companies like groupon and grubhub started here and are still based here. It's just that people don't pay attention to the universities unlike in the bay or seattle

[Masterful_Man]

According to a recent ranking of the leading 25 metropolitan areas for high tech jobs in the U.S., Chicago placed #16, far behind other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, or Boston.
https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/06...valley/530352/


Chicago isn't even in the top 10 in the U.S., much less the world.
Keep dreaming!

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by Masterful_Man

According to a recent ranking of the leading 25 metropolitan areas for high tech jobs in the U.S., Chicago placed #16, far behind other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, or Boston.
https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/06...valley/530352/


Chicago isn't even in the top 10 in the U.S., much less the world.
Keep dreaming!

from the story you linked:

"The final indicator, to my mind, is the single best one for distinguishing real centers of high-tech industry: venture capital investment in high-tech startups. This is a direct monetary gauge of high-tech hubs: It reflects the places actual venture capitalists are betting on high-tech businesses.


Venture capital value (bars) and number of deals (line) in 2016 in metropolitan areas (Cushman & Wakefield)
The data in this chart (and what follows) comes from Pitchbook data compiled for the National Venture Capital Association, the leading organization for venture capital funds and leading source for tracking the industry.

San Francisco proper tops the list with a whopping $16.9 billion in venture capital investment, almost double the second leading metro. But this chart understates the real extent of Greater San Francisco’s dominance in high-tech startups. Combined, San Francisco and San Mateo have nearly 40 percent of the national total, with $28.5 billion in venture-capital backed startups in 2016.

New York City rises to second on this metric with $9.1 billion in venture capital investment, putting it far ahead of San Jose (Silicon Valley) with $6.7 billion, Boston is fourth with $6 billion, followed by Los Angeles with $3.5 billion.

Six other metros attracted more than a billion dollars in venture capital investment in 2016, including San Diego and Seattle with roughly $1.5 billion each; Chicago with $1.25 billion; and Greater Washington, D.C., with $1.1 billion. Austin is close with just under $977 million in venture capital investment. Greater Miami is absent from the chart above, but attracted more than $1.2 billion in venture capital investment in 2016. It’s also worth noting that together Salt Lake City and Provo, about an hour’s drive from one another, also attracted more than a billion dollars in venture capital investment in 2016."

[BigLake]

Originally Posted by Masterful_Man

According to a recent ranking of the leading 25 metropolitan areas for high tech jobs in the U.S., Chicago placed #16, far behind other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, or Boston.
https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/06...valley/530352/


Chicago isn't even in the top 10 in the U.S., much less the world.
Keep dreaming!

So the onslaught of haters and insecure posters begins. I knew this thread would draw them like flies but it took two full days for them to arrive!

While Chicago may not be a top 10 global tech player (I'd agree that's too lofty), it is a credible report given that it's from a respected source (KPMG) and draws from a robust data set (800 representatives in tech industry).

Let me guess at the next complaint from insecure trollers... "KPMG has an office in Chicago. The poll is totally biased!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[ParkerP]

Originally Posted by Hkhan21

Finally, not many people recognize the tech startups and tech talent we have in downtown Chicago. Big companies like groupon and grubhub started here and are still based here. It's just that people don't pay attention to the universities unlike in the bay or seattle

Don't forget Tempus which is founded by Groupon's former founder. Very excited to see where they take cancer treatment and Chicago's health-tech scene as a whole. Good thread OP.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

from the story you linked:

"The final indicator, to my mind, is the single best one for distinguishing real centers of high-tech industry: venture capital investment in high-tech startups. This is a direct monetary gauge of high-tech hubs: It reflects the places actual venture capitalists are betting on high-tech businesses.


Venture capital value (bars) and number of deals (line) in 2016 in metropolitan areas (Cushman & Wakefield)
The data in this chart (and what follows) comes from Pitchbook data compiled for the National Venture Capital Association, the leading organization for venture capital funds and leading source for tracking the industry.

San Francisco proper tops the list with a whopping $16.9 billion in venture capital investment, almost double the second leading metro. But this chart understates the real extent of Greater San Francisco’s dominance in high-tech startups. Combined, San Francisco and San Mateo have nearly 40 percent of the national total, with $28.5 billion in venture-capital backed startups in 2016.

New York City rises to second on this metric with $9.1 billion in venture capital investment, putting it far ahead of San Jose (Silicon Valley) with $6.7 billion, Boston is fourth with $6 billion, followed by Los Angeles with $3.5 billion.

Six other metros attracted more than a billion dollars in venture capital investment in 2016, including San Diego and Seattle with roughly $1.5 billion each; Chicago with $1.25 billion; and Greater Washington, D.C., with $1.1 billion. Austin is close with just under $977 million in venture capital investment. Greater Miami is absent from the chart above, but attracted more than $1.2 billion in venture capital investment in 2016. It’s also worth noting that together Salt Lake City and Provo, about an hour’s drive from one another, also attracted more than a billion dollars in venture capital investment in 2016."

Calling out the facts does not make one a "hater". If Chicago truly was seeing more VC placements that would be reflected in the data. I frankly would be thrilled if that was the case as it would mean that instead of having to make visits to the PNW or even cities in the greater SE where tech firms are much more active I could stay close to home.

The businesses that ought to be doing better in Chicago and end up being told by their initial investors to "go west" are largely doing so because of the fiscal and political mess that investors see as holding back Chicago. I suspect that will be the #1 reason that Amazon downgrades Chicago in its HQ2 evaluation process...

The talent pool for places like Boston and the Southeast is also significantly different than what exists in Chicago. The talent out east / southeast has much higher profile with business. Beyond that there needs to be better ties between the top tier universities in Chicago and the rest off the state as well as neighboring region -- that largely means that despite good opportunities for students at Uof Illinois, Wisconsin Madison and Uof Michigan kids graduating with a BS and the in-demand skills are pulled to the west coast. Though there are no shortage of opportunities for grad students at places like NCSA, Argonne, and Fermi, those sorts of places don't have as deep a history with ties to profit making ventures like is so common in Silicon Valley with Stanford and the PNW or SE with its colleges. Even Boston, NY, and Washington DC have much better cooperation / higher profile with business schools and tech -- that too needs to change...

If the data that KPMG drives its own internal strategies as well as influences other firms to "follow the money" that means towns in Silicon Valley will maintain their high profile and places like Utah will far outpace Chicago...

[OKParker]

Based on my experiences, the tech talent in Chicago is significantly better than the tech talent in NY, but is worse than the talent in SF (with much higher incomes in SF and slightly higher incomes in NY).

[ParkerP]

More potential good news for Chicago tech
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...usands-of-jobs

[personone]

Not surprising. Chicago is at or near the top in most industries. Tech has been constantly increasing, so it’s not surprising that Chicago is a top hub.