M1 Finance Got $150M, Veo Secured $16M, and More Chicago Tech News

The Windy City tech scene is heating up this summer with a handful of companies making new moves last week. Fresh funding is just the start for these companies. This is the Built In Chicago weekly refresh.

Veo pulled in $16M. The company is looking to expand its fleet of eco-friendly micromobility vehicles following its latest injection of venture funding. Its Series A round was led by Autotech Ventures. Veo partners with cities and universities to provide shared-use electric bikes and scooters. It’s looking to expand its presence into NYC and Santa Monica with the fresh capital as well as grow its team. [Built In Chicago]

ActiveCampaign launched a $2M fund. Offering its CX automation platform, the company provides businesses with capabilities like email marketing campaigns and CRM features to help with customer engagement. Now, the company announced the launch of its Developer fund that will go toward people creating app integrations for the ActiveCampaign platform. [Built In Chicago]

Chicago Tech Quote of the Week

“New investors coming into the market might have the perception that trading is a path toward riches. The academic proof says that, the more you trade and the more you try to time the market, the less successful you’re going to be. Our focus is to surface up that information to our users to help them be more aware of themselves, and manage the times when they feel emotionally like they should be taking action. Like Charlie Munger said, it’s not how smart the investor is, it’s how well they manage their temperament.” — Bob Armour, CMO of M1 Finance

M1 Finance raised $150M. Softbank led the latest funding round for this fintech company, and the Series E brings M1 Finance’s valuation to $1.45 billion. M1 Finance offers a suite of tools like checking accounts and smart transfer capabilities that help users reach their long-term financial goals. With its fresh capital, the new unicorn is looking to develop even more financial tools and grow its team. [Built In Chicago]

Clearcover implemented a four-day workweek. Remote work during the pandemic presented its own unique challenges for employees, and this startup is looking to provide its team with ways to reduce their stress. Clearcover, an AI-based car insurance startup, is providing additional benefits to its 300-person team to help combat worker burnout. Additional benefits include mental health workshops, yoga classes and four-day workweeks. [Chicago Inno]

These startups are making headway for Chicago tech. With their sights set on big time growth in the coming years, five early-stage Chicago-based companies are hard at work innovating new solutions for a variety of industries. Featured this quarter are edtech platform Blaze Global, AI-based note app Chaos, travel tech company Nande, storytelling platform PechaKucha and advertising startup Visual Feeder. [Built In Chicago]

Chicago Tech Quote of the Week

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