Page Where Are They Now? Episode 5 Episode 5: Foxtrot May 13, 2021 Foxtrot cofounder and CEO Mike LaVitola, MBA ’14, has become expert at hearing “no.” He was not initially accepted into the New Venture Challenge,...
Page Consumer Goods & Services Emerging consumer brands and services redefining the way we shop, eat, travel, and live.
Page Where Are They Now? Episode 4 Episode 4: Simple Mills May 6, 2021 Katlin Smith, founder and CEO of Simple Mills, wowed her first buyer with a muffin recipe using almond flour. Now the Chicago-based natural...
News How Local Stores Can Thrive this Holiday Season The following article was written by Abigail Ingram, executive director of the Polsky Exchange, and originally published in Crain’s Chicago Business on November 17, 2025. Read the original article. When...
News Small Business Spotlight: Cakewalk Chicago Helps Bakers Turn Their Skills into Income For many people who walk into Cakewalk Chicago, a cake is more than something to bring to a party. It is an order to fill, a customer to keep, and...
News Small Business Spotlight: OjaExpress, Designed By and For Immigrants, Brings Same-Day Delivery to Ethnic Grocery Stores When Boyede Sobitan worked as a healthcare consultant, traveling four or five days out of every week, his return home to Chicago was often met with a request from his...
News Disrupting Brazil’s Ice Cream Industry Lowko, previously known as MUU, was a finalist at the 2018 New Venture Challenge and has since launched in Brazil.
News Small Business Spotlight: In the Age of Amazon, Kido’s Key to Retail Success is Knowing Your Community When Keewa Nurullah, a performing artist, had her first child, she encountered a whole new world of things her son needed – and was disappointed by what she found. Baby...
News New Money: InContext Solutions Raises $15M to Bring Virtual Reality to Retail InContext Solutions has raised $15.2 million in equity funding, according to an SEC filing. Founded in 2009, InContext uses virtual reality to help retailers simulate real in-store shopping situations in order...
News Foxtrot Announces $100 Million Series C Funding; UChicago Ups Investment in the NVC Alum Foxtrot on Tuesday announced $100 million in new funding and plans to open 50 stores over the next two years, a huge expansion for the Chicago Booth-born startup as it...
News Small Business Spotlight: Ms. Jetsetter Takes Flight Starting a travel accessory company at the beginning of a global pandemic isn’t easy. Just ask Tracey McGhee, founder of Ms. Jetsetter. “There were times when I thought that my...
