Best Chemicals and Materials Companies in Illinois, United States
The 220 best Chemicals and Materials companies in Illinois, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: CF Industries.
Our analysis of 50 Chemicals and Materials companies
$3.9b in tracked funding; 74% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Chemicals and Materials companies in Illinois
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CF Industries Manufacturer and distributor of nitrogen fertilizers | $2.8B | 124 mo ago | Public | — | 1946 | Optimizely Content ManagementApple iCloud MailMicrosoft ASP.NET+19 | — | 1 expansion |
| 2 | Elevance Renewable Sciences Chemical Manufacturer from renewble products | $473M | 96 mo ago | Deadpooled | — | 2007 | — | 776 patents Refining natural oils into specialty chemicals and silicone polymer technologies. | — |
| 3 | Century Aluminum Aluminium production company | $250M | 62 mo ago | Public | — | 1995 | Apple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365Q4+13 | 14 patents Molten‑salt electrolytic cell components for aluminum smelting (anode/cathode design). | 1 expansion |
| 4 | NanoInk Desktop Nano fabrication instrumentation | $137M | 173 mo ago | Series E | Christopher Anzalone Founder | 2001 | — | 195 patents Nano-scale ink deposition, precision lithography, and advanced microscopy tip technologies | — |
| 5 | Rubicon Provider of monocrystalline sapphire products for optical and industrial applications | $49M | 103 mo ago | Public | — | 2001 | — | 286 patents Integrated waste collection logistics, monitoring, and hydraulic pump control systems | — |
| 6 | Univar Solutions Global distributor of chemicals and ingredients | $36M | 131 mo ago | Acquired | David Jukes President & CEO | 1924 | Cart FunctionalityMagentoMySQL+27 | 5 patents Epoxy-based crosslinking additives for hydraulic fracturing fluids and polymer blend formulations. | 2 awards |
| 7 | EpiWorks Developer of semiconductor wafers | $8M | 302 mo ago | Acquired | — | 1997 | — | 10 patents Manufacturing multi-junction semiconductor photovoltaic cells for high-efficiency solar power. | — |
| 8 | Agritech Worldwide Limited information available | $996K | 112 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 1994 | — | — | — |
| 9 | NUMiX Materials Manufacturer of sorbents to harvest dissolved critical metals | $685K | 63 mo ago | Funding Raised | Olivia Lugar Co-Founder | 2018 | — | — | — |
| 10 | Respondic Manufacturer of adhesive products | $451K | 77 mo ago | Funding Raised | Seok Kim Founder | 2019 | — | — | — |
| 11 | Smart Plastic Developer of technology based plastic products | $400K | 46 mo ago | Seed | Tim Murtaugh CEO | 2016 | Webflow EcommerceWebflowHubSpot+14 | — | — |
| 12 | Arkim Developer of nutritional ingredients and food preservatives for pharmaceutical industries | — | 68 mo ago | Seed | Muzaffer Yasar Co-Founder | 2011 | — | — | — |
| 13 | Lawson Products Provider of logistics and supply chain management solutions | — | 90 mo ago | Public | Cesar Lanuza CEO & President | 1952 | Cart FunctionalityShopifyMarker+25 | — | — |
Top 12 Chemicals and Materials companies in Illinois
#1
Public · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1995 · 2472 employees$250Mraised▾
Aluminium production company
- Apr 2021Post IPO$75M
- May 2018Conventional Debt$175M
#2
Deadpooled · Woodridge, Illinois · founded 2007 · 20 employees$473.4Mraised▾
Elevance Renewable Sciences is a chemical company that creates novel specialty chemicals that perform better from renewable feedstocks, making the products that industry and consumers use every day better. They use a proprietary technology called olefin metathesis that delivers specialty chemicals that exceed the performance of existing products while leaving a smaller environmental footprint. It can be used in personal care products, detergents and cleaners, engineered polymers, lubricants and additives, and other specialty chemicals markets.
- Jun 2018Series F—
- May 2018Series E$18.3M
- May 2016Series E$2.1M
- Jan 2016Series E$18.7M
#3
Seed · Buffalo Grove, Illinois · founded 2016 · 11 employees$400Kraised▾
Developer of technology based plastic products
- Aug 2022Seed$400K
#4
Public · Bensenville, Illinois · founded 2001 · 12 employees$49.1Mraised▾
Provider of monocrystalline sapphire products for optical and industrial applications. It offers polished and ground sapphire, windows, tubes, rods, complex shapes, and ultra-thin parts. The company supplies sapphire feedstock and caters to various industries requiring high-performance materials. These industries include defense, electronics, aerospace, sensors, semiconductors, medical, and optics. The products are known for their hardness, strength, transparency, thermal conductivity, and chemical inertness, making them suitable for extreme environments.
- Nov 2017Post IPO—
- Oct 2006Series C$11.6M
- Sep 2005Series C$2.5M
- Sep 2005Series C$2.5M
#5
Public · Deerfield, Illinois · founded 1946 · 2012 employees$2.8Braised▾
CF Industries is engaged in manufacturing and distribution of nitrogen fertilizers. Its product offerings include Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN), Ammonia, Urea, and Ammonium Nitrate and it serves agricultural and industrial customers. It has nine nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom and a network of fertilizer distribution terminals and warehouses, located primarily in major grain-producing states in the U.S. Midwest. In 2022, the company recorded annual revenues of $10.33B and a net profit of $3.02B.
- Feb 2016Post IPO$2.8B
- Jan 2012Grant (prize money)—
#6
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2018 · 3 employees$685.1Kraised▾
Operator of an ion exchange materials company intended to specialize in the removal of heavy metals from complex liquid streams. The company's offerings include patented sorbents that enhance water treatment and provide value by minimizing treatment additives, simplifying operations, and reducing hazardous waste disposal costs, enabling clients to meet process and regulatory limits independent of initial water chemistry.
- Feb 2021Grant (prize money)$173.1K
- Dec 2020Grant (prize money)$256K
- Nov 2020Grant (prize money)$256K
#7
Acquired · Downers Grove, Illinois · founded 1924 · 9746 employees$36.4Mraised▾
Univar Solutions is a US-based global distributor of chemicals and ingredients. Products include chelates, hydrocarbons, oleochemicals, silica, resins, and more. The company serves customers and suppliers as a committed ally, providing the capabilities to help businesses grow. In 2022, the company recorded annual revenues of $11.47B and a net profit of $0.54B.
- Jun 2015Post IPO$350M
- Mar 2015PE$36.4M
- Nov 2012PE$2M
- Nov 2010PE—
#8
Series E · Skokie, Illinois · founded 2001 · 27 employees$137.5Mraised▾
Developer of nanometer scale structures and applications for life science and semiconductor industries. The company's products are used in protein assay applications, such as kinase profiling, auto-antibody detection, antibody specificity characterization, protein-protein interaction detection and protein small molecule interaction studies.
#9
Funding Raised · Champaign, Illinois · founded 2019$450.9Kraised▾
Producer of robust, reusable adhesives intended to meet the fastening needs. The company's adhesives utilize a type of polymer that permits the adhesives to get a strong, permanent hold on a wide range of surfaces, enabling users to use them for a wide range of purposes.
- Jan 2020Grant (prize money)$200.9K
- Dec 2019Grant (prize money)$250K
#10
Acquired · Champaign, Illinois · founded 1997 · 57 employees$8.5Mraised▾
Epiworks is engaged in manufacturing of epitaxial semiconductor wafers. Epitaxial wafers are formed by deposition of nanolayers of semiconductor crystals. Company's product is used for developing LED and laser wafers used is displays and to make RF wafers used in smartphones. Target market for company's wafer are electronic and photonics devices. Epiworks was acquired by II-VI Corporation in Feb, 2016 to expand its portfolio of engineered materials.
- Apr 2001Conventional Debt$5M
- Mar 2000Series C$8.5M
#11
Funding Raised · Mundelein, Illinois · founded 1994 · 14 employees$996Kraised▾
Limited information available
- Feb 2017Conventional Debt$996K
#12
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2011—raised▾
Developer of nutritional ingredients and food preservatives for pharmaceutical industries. The company produces natural supplements and food preservatives from natural sources of calcium, which can be used in food, vegetables, fruits, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and many CPG products.
- Oct 2020Seed—
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Chemicals and Materials coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
What Illinois researches in advanced materials
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Chicago lead Illinois's advanced-materials research, focusing on mechanics, sensors, and self-healing polymers with a strongly optimistic, breakthrough-driven tone.
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign18
- University of Illinois Chicago7
- Western Illinois University1
- Southern Illinois University Carbondale1
Common questions
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.