Built In Chicago has spent the past year collecting and analyzing data on the Digital Technology startup community. The below slides represent the first annual Digital Startup Report: a snapshot of both current, and historic startup launches, fundings and exits. We will continue publishing this data monthly, quarterly and annually. If we inadvertently missed a company, or funding, please email [email protected] for inclusion in the next report.
Digital:
Our definition of "digital" for purposes of collecting data, and publishing reports, is a company whose business is primarily web or mobile based.
Disclosures:
#1: where available, we used the funding round close date as provided by the SEC.
#2: when funding source was not disclosed we categorized the funding as either "Undisclosed VC" or "Individual Investors" based on available data.
#3: we have included all funding, including PE, VC, Angel, Incubator and Friends & Family.
193 digital technology startups launched in 2011, 22 of which received funding. This is a 97% increase in launches over 2010.
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The Total Dollars raised by Chicago digital technology companies was 393% higher than 2010 and 37% higher than the peak of 2000. Specifically, $1,453M was raised by 77 digital technology companies in 2011. This compares with 43 companies who raised $295M in 2010.
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FUNDING DETAILS
While total dollars raised peaked in Q1 2011, the # of deals peaked in Q2 (38), followed by Q1 (24). Q3 and Q4 each saw 18 deals.
VC investment dollars increased 449% ($1,436M) over 2010 ($262M) while Angel investments increased 54% ($16.2M) over 2010 ($10.5M).
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In 2011, there were 16 exit events by Chicago digital technology companies. 1 Notable IPO (Groupon!) and 15 acquisitions. Since 2000,Chicago Digital Technology companies have had 26 exits >$100M.
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