Situated high above the heart of downtown Chicago’s growing tech and entrepreneurial scene, Catapult Chicago is doing its part to strengthen and develop the network of successful startups in the city.  Catapult first opened it's doors in late 2011 with the support of law firm Foley & Lardner, who at the time was looking for a way to get involved in the emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem in Chicago as well as put an empty floor of its downtown office to use.  The firm’s vision and hopes for the program have been instrumental in the growth of Catapult, which now has thirteen resident startups.  Part incubator and part co working space, Catapult hosts companies for a maximum of eighteen months, but before they set up shop, applicants must be admitted after pitching their business to the founders of current resident companies, who then vote on who gets in.

The unique application process at Catapult, along with a robust network of accomplished business mentors and a strong emphasis on entrepreneurs collaborating together, has contributed to an impressive rate of graduate companies still growing and thriving.  Among Catapult’s group of former residents are a slew of high growth Chicago startups including the artist designed footwear company Bucketfeet (completed a 7.5M Series A funding round in February) and Shiftgig, a networking site for the service industry (raised a combined 13M for its series A at the end of 2014).  

Great views of the city can be found all over Catapult’s 10,500 square feet of shared space on the 25th floor of 321 N. Clark Street.  Catapult targets companies with roughly five to fifteen employees already displaying some traction in their respective marketplace with the hopes that startups a bit further along in their growth stage can serve as beneficial neighbors.   “It's so much more than simply physical space - the community, the connections you make, and the doors that Catapult opens makes it a great place to grow a business, ” said Rent Like a Champion CEO Mike Doyle.  As one of Catapult’s newest members, the company is quickly appreciating the collaborative and supportive vibe the program was founded on.  “Being surrounded by companies at the same juncture is incredibly beneficial, and we've seen huge benefits after being here only a month.”

Program Director Kelsey Mazeski spoke with startingup@startups to provide some additional background on the ins and outs of Catapult Chicago.  Check out the Q&A below.

Q: What is the most important factors programs like Catapult tend to look for when admitting startups  besides simply being able to pay rent?
Kelsey: We look for companies with demonstrated business traction - funding, employees, user acquisition, paying customers, etc.- company drive, team dynamics, and what they can contribute to the Catapult community. 

Q: Is there a certain industry focus or alignment for companies that are admitted into Catapult?
Catapult companies are primarily tech based and B2B, which is also in part a reflection of the Chicago entrepreneurial/tech scene itself. 

Q: What are the most common challenges businesses face as they go through their time at Catapult (product-market fit, growing the team, user acquisition) and how do you help them with such obstacles?
We help companies address all of these issues primarily through 1) Founders Forums: bi-monthly meetings where one founder presents a particular problem and others offer feedback and share their own experience, 2) The Everest Program: An innovative all-access mentoring program that connects Catapult startups to successful digital B2B or B2C companies that have scaled from their own early startup days, and 3) educational programming in which we bring in the sponsors, experts and entrepreneurs that our companies legitimately need at their respective stages of the development.  Most companies stay for 18 months, and within that the time span, they often double their team size and raise capital, so the hiring process and raising funds are probably what we see our companies struggle with the most. 

Q: Can you talk about the "Peer Selection" element of Catapult.  How did the idea come about and what impact does it have on the space? 
The peer selection model evolved from the fact that it’s the people within the entrepreneurial scene that always know what’s going on. There’s the typical way of asking investors, analysts, and committees to deem which startups have the potential to scale, but we’ve found that it’s the tech companies themselves who can spot other talented companies that would make innovative additions to the Catapult community.

Q: You've had some very successful companies come through Catapult and a high percentage of graduates are still in business, what do you attribute that to?
Thank you! We’re very proud to share that of the 17 companies that have graduated from Catapult, 88% are still in business and remain involved with the Catapult community. We’re also a small organization (we only have 13 resident companies and 7 associate resident companies), and are geared for later-stage startups which means the chances of our companies going under is significantly less.



Q: Could you talk a bit about the sponsor network and their impact on Catapult and its resident startups?
As a non-profit 501(c)6, our sponsors play a vital role in helping our companies scale. Sponsors are typically forward thinking businesses interested in supporting our mission by providing financial support as well as access to their respective organizations and networks.  Basically, our sponsors work more as advisors who provide guidance and expertise to our residents. 

Q: Any plans to expand the Catapult model to other cities with large tech/startup scenes?
We’re not in a rush, but there’s definitely talk of taking the Catapult model to other cities. 

Excited to announce that the newest episode of the Startup Roadshow Podcast will be featuring Philadelphia!  Looking forward to heading to my hometown and learning about all the exciting and interesting companies calling Philly home.  Reposting a story from last year on Colabination, an awesome philly startup taking a new spin on how consumers find their favorite designers.  Be on the lookout for the new podcast epsiode this week, and enjoy the story about Colabination in the meantime:

On the rainy and cold morning before Thanksgiving, members of the Philadelphia based startup CoLabinationgathered in their small co-working space to share what they accomplished the previous day and what they wanted to achieve that day.  But before the team could break and start their tasks, everyone had to share a life goal and a value.  For some it’s a breeze and they can’t wait to share, for others, it’s a pain to get something out, and for a casual observer it’s a sign of a company doing things differently and doing them in a meaningful way.

 I recently spent a few hours hanging out at CoLabination’s co-working space near Drexel’s campus meeting the various team members to hear not only about their unique backgrounds, but also understand the passion shared by each employee working at CoLabination.  All of the feedback I received was unique and honest, especially what I heard from the guy who dreamed up a particularly innovative concept only a couple of years ago.

A professed entrepreneur at heart, Scott Latham tried his hand at building and running a Philadelphia based streetwear brand called Flight Crew Clothing a few years back.  While things were progressing with the company, one retailer here, a couple sponsorships there, Scott quickly ran into the expensive problem of geographic expansion, a challenge that plagues nearly all small and independent clothing brands.  Most apparel or streetwear brands either sell directly through their website or through a handful of smaller boutiques offering local and underground products, but this can be both a costly and inefficient route for brands like Scott’s looking to gain visibility well beyond the zip code they were started in. 


“I knew there had to be a better way,” Latham said.  So he has set out to overcome the extreme fragmentation that permeates the streetwear and underground apparel industry.  “Its an exciting opportunity because at first what I thought I was doing was just solving a problem for brands similar to mine, but what we’ve realized is that it has grown into two really big problems, one for brands and one for shoppers,” Latham explains.  

 Scott split his time between refining this concept with the help of other entrepreneurs at Seed Philly, an early stage incubator for Philadelphia startups, and gathering an all-star team that could contribute to the mission right away. Within a year, what was a frustration became a solution in the form of CoLabination, an e-commerce startup in Philadelphia focused on providing a marketplace for brand discovery and collection.  

Aiming to be a new online option for smaller and independent designers, CoLabination tackles the e-commerce and business side of the apparel industry and allows designers to devote more time and energy to their passion for making great clothes.  “There’s so many of theses small businesses out there that have tried to set up an online presence but its not working for them because its not being aggregated and no one can find them,” Latham explains with the zeal of someone confident that the market is in dire need of a better solution. “So in essence, what were doing is aggregating the future of shopping online.” 

CoLabination boils down to three main features benefiting both brands and consumers.  For discovery, shoppers use the Rolodex to scroll through and check out the newest or most popular products featured on the site.  If you click on a shirt or hoodie that catches your eye, you are taken to that brand’s Showroom. Once inside the Showroom, users can browse and purchase what the brand offers, but they also get a better understanding of the story and people behind that particular brand.   “We let designers tell their stories,” insists CoLabination’s Brand Specialist Tyler Blaisdell. “Ideally, we want CoLabination to serve as a platform for connecting shoppers with brands from all around the country.”  If a certain brand keeps displaying apparel you like, you can add them to your X Collection, a personally created profile allowing users to define themselves by the brands they collect.  

 Sitting down with Tyler and Paul Dziemianowicz, CoLabination’s product expert, I quickly appreciated the tricky yet crucial balance CoLabination is striving for when it comes to building a site that is easy and intuitive to use but also allows brands to express themselves.   Currently, a limited number of e-commerce startups feature up-and-coming brands, but they often leave shoppers feeling overwhelmed and confused.   After just a couple minutes on the site, I could already see why every member of CoLabination has taken such pride in offering a simple shopping experience for consumers who are passionate about discovering new and interesting brands.

Despite being such an early stage venture, CoLabination is already making noise in Philly’s growing startup ecosystem.  An endless pool of young talent from schools like University of Pennsylvania and Drexel combined with a renewed push for small business investment from City Hall has helped to strengthen Philly’s startup scene.  Every single CoLabination employee expressed his or her desire to help create a more collaborative community for the entrepreneurs within the city and make it a final destination instead of just a launching pad for young and growing startups.   

            Whether the topic is the Philly startup scene or the fragmented market for streetwear and underground apparel, talking with any of the CoLabination employees gives off a strong sense of excitement not only in what CoLabinaton stands for, but what it might become.  More than anything, this team seems driven by the excitement and energy that comes from creating a service addressing a massive challenge facing both brands and the people that want to wear their products.