TechChicago Week: Your Guide from those in the know.

TechChicago Week begins July 20 and runs until July 26. This year the theme is "Solving Grand Challenges," a citywide nod to quantum, AI, and advanced computing in the city being pointed at problems in healthcare, finance, energy, climate, and food.

If you’re visiting the Windy City for the week, you’ll have the same challenge as most any tech event: hundreds of dates, tons of partner events, overlapping needs, feeling like you’re not getting to more than a fraction of them as you hop across town. 

So, we did some of the work for you and put the same three questions to four people who will be in those rooms — Jim Dallke at TechNexus, Garon Patterson at Silicon Valley Bank, Landon Campbell at Drive Capital, and Manleen Rajput at World Business Chicago.

The questions were:

Who should visitors to Chicago go out of their way to try and meet? 

What events would you advise they build their week around? 

Finally, is this a Chicago event, an Illinois one, or something the entire Midwest should be cancelling everything on their calendar and booking flights and hotels for?

Here then are their answers and thereby kernels of advice for you…

‍

Q: Who should out-of-towners seek out in Chicago during Tech Chicago Week?

Jim (TechNexus):
Chicago has a specific kind of operator that's harder to find on the coasts — founders building in deep-tech, industrials, and supply chain, often with Fortune 500 relationships already in place. They tend to be further along than their funding rounds suggest and less focused on narrative than on product. On the investment side, look for VCs with genuine corporate network access who think in terms of enterprise deployment. That combination is a real differentiator here, and it's worth deliberately seeking out.

‍

Garon (SVB):
Chicago has great founders in food/ag, fintech, quantum, supply chain, consumer, health-tech and life sciences. If you are looking for founders with industry experience, this is the place. The investors are true value-add style investors. Very hands on. If you want an investor to help improve your chances of an outcome, the place is here. We have especially strong investors at the seed stage and often come with industry operating experience in the same categories listed for the founders above.

‍

Landon (Drive Capital):
My biggest piece of advice is this: don't spend the entire week trying to meet investors. Use the opportunity to meet founders, visit major enterprises, and spend time with potential customers. Chicago is one of the few places where you can meet Fortune 500 execs, industrial companies, healthcare systems, logistics leaders, and financial institutions all within a few miles. Those conversations are more valuable than another coffee with a VC.

I'd also encourage people to plug into Chicago's vertical communities. Whether you're interested in AI, healthcare, fintech, manufacturing, climate, quantum, or logistics, there are thriving communities here that make it easy to build meaningful relationships.

‍

Manleen (World Business Chicago):‍

Chicago is one of the best cities for out-of-town visitors to connect with founders who are building here in the Midwest. Chicago, and the entire Midwest region is great at applying AI, data, and technology to our top sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, food and agriculture, financial services, and quantum. Chicago stands out for investors who understand these strengths and these sectors. You will find people here that value sustainable, capital-efficient growth.

A personal recommendation is for anyone visiting from out-of-town should check out the Chicago restaurant scene, and load up on some of the best food the world has to offer! ‍
‍

Q: Three events worth building your week around?

Jim Dallke (TechNexus):
Global Quantum Forum - July 22-23

Voucher Networking Mixer - July 23

Basecamp @ TechNexus - July 20

‍

Garon Patterson (Silicon Valley Bank):

Chicago Builds: Future of Money - July 22

Fundraising for The Rest of Us: How to Build Your Pitch, Navigate Bias, and Raise Capital on Your Terms - July 23

Bagel Entrepreneurs @ TechChicago Week - July 21

‍

Landon Campbell (Drive Capital):
Chicago Builds: Future of Money - July 22

Fastest Draw in the 312: Outpacing the Tech Frontier - July 24

Aspen Ideas: Climate - July 20-22

‍

Manleen Rajput (World Business Chicago):
Co-Invest Climate - July 23

1871 Techapalooza

2112’s Creative Tech and Media Summit - July 22-23

‍

Q: Is TechChicago Week a Chicago event or one for the wider Midwest?

Jim (TechNexus)

It's a Midwest story. The region has a density of research universities, manufacturing infrastructure, and industrial expertise that no single city owns. What a week like this does is make that distributed ecosystem visible and connectable in one place, for one week. For anyone coming from outside the region, it's one of the most efficient ways to understand what's actually being built in the middle of the country.

‍

Garon (Silicon Valley Bank):
Chicago leads the Midwest. Maybe by default. I’d like to say that tech week is something for the Midwest, but I think it’s more geared for Chicago success. Each state/city seems to have its own approach and agenda vs a broader regional approach. In the future, I think a stronger region would be best served to see a tech Chicago week as a regional driver vs a driver for the city.

‍

Landon (Drive Capital):
To me, TechChicago Week isn't just about Chicago. It's the front door to the Midwest startup ecosystem. Founders and investors from across the region come here because this is where the Midwest comes together.

What I love most about the week, though, are the side events. They're smaller, more focused, and centered around specific industries and communities. That's where the best conversations happen, partnerships begin, and long term relationships are built. Last year we hosted five Events (at the Drive Capital offices - Ed), and this year we're hosting even stronger ones.

Those gatherings are a big reason why TechChicago Week continues to grow and why so many people come back year after year.

‍

Manleen (World Business Chicago):
TechChicago Week plays a HUGE role for the entire Midwest! While Chicago serves as the anchor, TechChicago Week creates a platform that brings together founders, investors, corporations, universities, and ecosystem leaders from across the region. It helps showcase the Midwest as a connected, collaborative innovation hub rather than a collection of individual cities. By strengthening cross-state relationships, attracting national attention and investment, and creating opportunities for partnerships beyond Chicago, Tech Chicago Week elevates the visibility and competitiveness of the entire Midwest technology ecosystem.

‍

The full calendar of events for TechChicago Week by P33 is at gotechchicago.com. Many events are free, but registration is handled separately by each host, so it pays to lock in the ones you care about before you travel rather than after you land.

Our thanks to Jim, Garon, Landon, and Manleen for taking the time. If their answers agree on anything, it's that the value of the week sits in the rooms rather than the keynotes, and that the people worth crossing town for are as likely to be founders and operators as investors. 

For more on what's happening in Chicago, Illinois and across the entire Midwest this summer, and for our wider coverage of events and conferences around the region, subscribe to our newsletter — and if you're heading to Chicago next week, tell us what you found.

‍