Coming Together
1871 and hub88 have joined forces to drive collective acceleration for early-stage founders, growth-stage businesses, and corporate innovators across the Illinois region. This partnership will further strengthen 1871’s support for members across the entire business maturity curve and expand its physical footprint in Chicago’s Western suburbs. See the 1871 and hub88 merger announcement here.
About 1871
1871 is Chicago’s technology hub and the #1 ranked private business incubator in the world. It exists to inspire, equip, and support early-stage, growth scalers, and innovators in building extraordinary businesses. 1871 is home to ~450 technology startups, ~300 growth stage companies, and ~1,500 members, and is supported by an entire ecosystem focused on accelerating their growth and creating jobs in the Chicagoland area. The member experience includes virtual and in-person access to workshops, events, mentorship, and more. The nonprofit organization has 350 mentors available to its members, alongside access to more than 100 partner corporations, universities, education programs, accelerators, venture funds, and others. Since its inception in 2012, more than 650 alumni companies are currently still active, have created over 11,000 jobs, and have raised more than $1.65 billion in follow-on capital.
About hub88
hub88 is a northern Illinois technology accelerator that integrates the regional commercial, education, and entrepreneurial communities to discover, test, and commercialize emerging technologies and services. hub88 offers business development resources, entrepreneur mentoring and networking assistance, and engaging programs to connect our community with subject matter experts. Since its inception in 2018, hub88 has launched its 5G testing Communications Lab, Drone Interest Group, and numerous programs reaching over 1,000 community members coming from over 400 companies and organizations. The hub88 monthly TechTalk series garners praise for its breadth of subjects and quality of panelists. hub88 subject matter experts and mentors have assisted companies with startup and growth advice, accelerating 5G/LTE wireless, IoT, drone, medical device, and autonomous vehicle technologies. In addition, hub88 supports the next generation of innovators with its camps and STEM workshops as well as facilitating internships for students from Illinois universities.
Spotlight Guest
Betsy Ziegler, 1871 CEO
