Tagged: illinois

November 18, 2025 @ 3:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

LevelField Financial, Inc., a U.S. financial services firm aiming to bring together traditional banking and digital asset products in a unified platform, announced that it received conditional approval from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) in order to finalize its acquisition of… Read More

April 18, 2023 @ 8:28 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain Association published a letter sent to Senator Laura Ellman and Representative Mark Walker of the Illinois Assembly stating industry opposition to HB 3479. The following statement is attributed to Kristin Smith, Blockchain Association CEO: “Illinois Assembly Bill HB 3479 would effectively outlaw crypto in… Read More

December 1, 2021 @ 2:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Crypto.com, which claims to be one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency and financial services platforms, has announced that it has executed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) — a US-headquartered retail-focused, regulated online exchange and clearinghouse offering derivative products… Read More

January 8, 2020 @ 8:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Chicago-headquartered Clearcover, a company focused on improving the way people acquire car insurance, has completed its third investment round. Clearcover revealed on January 3 that it had finalized a $50 million Series C round, which was led by OMERS Ventures. Existing investors American Family Ventures,… Read More

December 12, 2019 @ 11:11 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies announced on Thursday it is teaming up with Trilogy Education, a leading workforce accelerator, for a new fintech boot camp that will take place in Chicago. According to Northwest, the Northwestern FinTech Boot Camp offers professionals the opportunity to acquire… Read More

July 9, 2019 @ 11:42 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Velocity Markets, a company that provides technology solutions to investors in the digital asset markets, announced on Tuesday the launch of its new digital asset platform, ShortHop, in Washington, California, and Illinois.  According to Velocity Markets, users are currently able to acquire and trade BTC,… Read More

October 10, 2018 @ 3:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

truCrowd, an online investment platform that offers crowdfunding using the Illinois state securities exemption, is currently promoting new offerings. The two companies are AirChicago and Art of Fun, both Chicago area businesses. According to earlier reports, AirChicago previously raised funding on truCrowd so this appears… Read More

September 12, 2018 @ 11:36 am By Cali Haan  |  

Authorities in the state of Gujarat, India have been asked by representatives from Illinois and Arizona states to seize the property of Indian citizens accused of promoting Bitconnect, a “wide-ranging Ponzi scheme” that allegedly bilked investors out of an estimated $5.6 billion before it collapsed in… Read More

January 26, 2018 @ 12:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Illinois has its first intrastate crowdfunding success.  The new securities rule was enacted in 2016 the first offering apparently did not go well but this week we have heard that AirChicago Holdings has successfully raised money on truCrowd. According to truCrowd, AirChicago Holdings took 5… Read More

April 4, 2017 @ 11:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Insurtech firm Lemonade has moved into the midwest by adding Illinois to the list of the states where it may offer insurance. Adding Illinois comes six months after launching in New York state by receiving regulatory approval to offer insurance. Lemonade is an insurance company… Read More

February 1, 2017 @ 1:32 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Commerical real estate marketplace lending platform, Money360, announced on Wednesday it has provided a bridge loan to the owner of a retail center in Jacksonville, Illinois. According to Money360, the $8.3 million loan is allowing the borrower to pay off a maturing loan on the Lincoln… Read More

January 18, 2017 @ 2:35 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

While it took longer than expected to get here, Crowdfunding for Illinois businesses is now officially up and running and its full steam ahead. To mark the occasion, a joint press conference was held yesterday at local incubator 1871 which I was privileged to be… Read More

November 29, 2016 @ 3:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Prior to this past Thanksgiving holiday, a Michaels Store in Chicago experienced a customer-service fiasco that was recorded by a bystander, named Jessie Grady.  For 30-minutes, Grady watched and recorded a woman who unleashed incredible vitriol on two employees (and everyone else in the store)…. Read More

October 17, 2016 @ 2:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Real estate marketplace lending platform Money360 announced on Monday it has provided an $800,000 bridge for the acquisition of a newly-constructed, single-tenant retail building, located in Raymond, Illinois. According to Money360, the borrower has secured a loan through its platform and was able to close before its 1031-exchange… Read More

April 13, 2016 @ 6:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Chicago-based fintech company VestLo announced that it has become the first to submit an application to the Illinois Secretary of State, Securities Division, so that it may register as a “qualified” crowdfunding platform under the new Illinois Intrastate Crowdfunding Exemption. The adopted Illinois Intrastate Crowdfunding Bill creates… Read More

February 4, 2016 @ 3:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Just a little over seven months after they secured nearly $60,000 on Kickstarter for their Wabash Lights project, Jack C. Newell and Seth Unger announced the lights are set to launch this evening in downtown Chicago. The duo hit the crowdfunding giant this past summer to bring… Read More

January 14, 2016 @ 1:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, online marketplace for real estate investing, RealtyMogul.com, announced $16.875M bridge loan and $1.5M preferred equity investment, which facilitated the acquisition of an office building in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.  The sponsor is Schaumburg-based Helios Properties and the facility is a non-recourse loan with proceeds being used… Read More

January 12, 2016 @ 2:17 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

Its pizza may be world famous, but Chicago recently added a new attribute to its menu: one of the most active crowdfunding cities in the world, notes ChicagoInno. With 132 live projects as of Jan. 16, 2016, Chicago ranks behind only London, Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco,… Read More

December 3, 2015 @ 1:30 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, Streetwise Media’s digital city news property, Chicago Inno, announced the winners of this year’s 50 on Fire Awards. While sharing details about the Fire Awards, Streetwise Media President, Leslie Garbarino, stated:  “Chicago’s innovation economy continues to grow every year in large part due to… Read More

September 5, 2015 @ 7:22 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this week, Chicago-based startup SNOOZ took to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter with a mission to raise $100,000 for its self-titled “ultra-portable” sound conditioner. SNOOZ is described as an 2.5″ tall acoustic white noise machine that helps user fall asleep and stay asleep. According to the company, using a… Read More