With sponsorship from real estate services firm DTZ, Chicago-based real estate tech accelerator ElmSpring will hold its first pitch day next week, Crain’s Chicago Business’ John Pletz reports.
ElmSpring was launched this summer by Century 21 operator Elmdale Partners LLC, offering seed-stage real estate startups $20,000 in funding and 90 days of mentoring before they make their pitch to investors in exchange for a 6 percent equity stake.
While there are thriving real estate startup scenes on both coasts, Chicago is not exactly a backwater — the National Association of Realtors’ tech accelerator program, REach, is also based there.
Detroit, too, is known for a startup zone, “The M@dison Block,” that’s a partnership between a number of companies, including Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert’s Bizdom startup incubator program.
TechCrunch has noted the formation of technology incubators, accelerators, and early-stage investment firms in Midwestern metropolises that are hoping to generate tech jobs like Cincinnati, Kansas City and Indianapolis. Source: chicagobusiness.com.
