12 weeks of hard work, grit, and passion culminate in one unforgettable evening as the sixth WiSTEM cohort takes the stage to present their businesses to the Chicago community. Join us as we celebrate these twelve amazing companies over pitches, networking, and delicious food and drink from a few of our favorite diverse caterers. Sponsored by KPMG.
This event has ended.
WiSTEM is 1871’s 12-week pre-accelerator for female founders. WiSTEM now has 64 portfolio companies that have collectively raised more than $10 million in funding and created over 200 jobs. That success is due a variety of factors: a strong curriculum which focuses on capital, community and technology resources, strong partnerships with marquee organizations including Ms. Tech (Nicole Yeary, co-facilitator of WiSTEM is the founder/CEO of Ms. Tech), the Women’s Business Development Center, DyMynd Angels, InvestHER and Women Tech Founders.
WiSTEM was founded as part of the Google for Entrepreneurs’ #40Forward initiative. Since then, the program has also been supported by JPMorgan Chase, Katrina Markoff, the Lefkofsky Family Foundation, the Motorola Mobility Foundation, Microsoft, KPMG, Accenture, the U.S. Small Business Administration, Latham & Watkins, the Butler Family Foundation and Katten Law.
Agenda
5:30PM - Doors Open & Networking
6:00PM - Opening Remarks
6:20PM - Presentations
7:20PM - Networking
WiSTEM Participating Startups
AptAmigo
The apartment search is overwhelming and frustrating, with AptAmigo it's efficient and reliable. We provide real-time, transparent, and personalized availability. Paired with premier customer service and over 4,500 detailed resident reviews, we ensure that all of our clients experience a seamless transition into their new apartment.
Cleancio
Cleancio is an on-demand vacation rental cleaning and guest turnover service based in Chicago. Our goal is to improve the Guest Experience by following hospitality standards used by the finest hotels. We help hosts and vacation rental property managers maintain five-star ratings from their guests which maximizes revenue from each property.
Docademia
Docademia is the "Airbnb" for social documentaries! We offer a video-on-demand film catalog and Live Q&A service with the filmmakers to connect indie documentarians from around the world with faculty and students at colleges and universities. We help educators teach their students through creating real-life exposure in the fields of humanities, and partner with filmmakers to find new audiences for their creative work.
Dresscode
Dresscode believes there is beauty in innovation and technology. We merge fashion and technology to excite and educate women and girls about computer science, coding and STEM. The company has sophisticated accessories with computer science code strings from different languages on them, users take the code on the bracelet to the website and enter in the code to unlock different coding lessons.
Givly
Givly is the universal giving and stewarding app that brings donors and nonprofits together like never before. Givly brings nonprofits into the mobile digital space, allowing organizations engaged in mission-driven, transformational work, to manage their administrative resources effectively and affordably. It leverages the power, connectivity, and popularity of mobile digital capabilities to revolutionize the way we do philanthropy.
Happenstance
Happenstance is a mobile app that changes Chicago journalism as we know it – by spontaneously delivering obscure audio stories about the people and places in the city directly to users as they go about their daily routines. We’re not a tour or a news app. We’re the new form of timeless audio journalism.
Jugl
Jugl is a Chicago-based start-up company passionately focused on creating software to make it easier to be a working parent. Jugl’s first product is a family calendar and logistics manager that reduces the time and effort involved in managing the schedule, planning and information of busy modern households. It’s an invaluable work/life coordination tool, reducing letdown and meltdown potential at home and optimizing at-work presence and productivity.
Pie for Providers
Pie for Providers (formerly Provide) uses technology to help child care providers build stronger businesses. Our software helps providers navigate government programs so they can save time and increase their revenue. Through simple tools like a case management dashboard and interactive checklists, we are creating the conditions for large scale social change. We envision a future where providers are able to build stable careers and better serve low-income families.
Style545
Style545 is a fashion technology company improving the apparel shopping experience by offering consumers expertly curated looks, customized for their personal style and occasion preferences. The B2B start-up provides an analytics-driven platform for retailers to design looks based on available inventory creating a personalized omnichannel shopping experience.
Trax
Trax's mission is to provide multifamily owners and investors with accurate data by streamlining real estate functions at the onsite level through data management and analytics tools. Our web-enabled solution creates efficiencies at the site level and in turn, gives ownership data that they can rely on. The cloud platform will require minimal data entry and will generate reports that owners demand in order to make sound investment decisions.
truCrowd Illinois
Located in downtown Chicago, truCrowd is an equity crowdfunding portal operating under Regulation Crowdfunding (Title III of JOBS ACT) and the Illinois Securities Law of 1953 which connects startups and emerging businesses with non-accredited and accredited investors. Built on the belief that not all businesses and investors are alike, we pride ourselves on delivering a personalized and professional funding experience through industry-leading technology.
Zinda.xyz
Journey from Zinda is a mobile and web employee platform that engages and mobilizes employees around big change initiatives of a company. 70% of change initiative fail. We can increase the success rates dramatically through our gamified personal and team interactions. We create personal connections for the employee to company initiatives, thus empowering leaders at all levels in companies to actively drive change in their organization.
Event Sponsor
KPMG International and its network of member firms (collectively ‘KPMG’) are a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax, and advisory services operating in 155 countries and employing more than 174,000 people. Our U.S. member firm, known as KPMG LLP, traces its origins all the way back to 1897 and became a limited liability partnership in 1994. As a leading professional services firm, KPMG LLP has more than 30,000 partners and professionals providing services throughout all 50 states.
