2013 was a huge year for startups associated to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business— eight student-designed companies were acquired and two more merged to expand their reach.
Ten student-formed businesses were created and developed with direction and from Chicago Booth’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, including the $800 million acquisition of Braintree by PayPal.
eBay, the parent company of PayPal, announced it’s acquisition of Braintree, an app and website developed to help process mobile payments. Founded by Bryan Johnson, Booth ’07, Braintree was the winner of the Polsky Center’s 2007 New Venture Challenge, the premier startup program at Chicago Booth that helps students turn entrepreneurial ideas into viable business reality.
Other New Venture Challenge winners and Booth startups involved in mergers or acquisitions over the past year are:
- GrubHub, founded by Matt Maloney, ’10, won the New Venture Challenge in 2006 and merged with Seamless to become GrubHub Seamless, the country’s leading online and mobile food-ordering company.
- Bump Technologies, won the 2009 New Venture Challenge for their idea to easily send info between mobile devices by bumping them together, acquired by Google.
- Gen110, which sells on-site solar electricity to homeowners at lower rates than conventional utility companies, was founded by Jason Brown, ’09, and Jasper Platz, ’09, and was acquired by Solar Universe.
- SoCore Energy, which finished in third place in 2008, grew to become the solar portfolio development and commercial rooftop installation leader and was acquired by Edison International.
- Power2Switch, which allows consumers and businesses to select their electricity provider in deregulated states, was founded by Seyi Fabode, ’10, and Phil Nevels, ’09, and acquired by Choose Energy.
- Kip Solutions, a social media startup that was taken through Polsky’s Accelerator Program in 2012, was acquired by Post & Beam.
- ProOnGo, a digital accounting technology company and a 2008 finalist founded by Phil Leslie, ’09, was acquired by The Neat Company..
- brightroom, which placed second in the New Venture Challenge in 2000, was merged into MarathonFoto and Event Photograph Group Inc.
- Bolder Thinking, which finished in a tie for third place in 2010 and is a leader in the cloud telephony and contact center space, was acquired.
