Best Sustainability Tech Companies in Chicago, United States
The 98 best Sustainability Tech companies in Chicago, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: SMS Assist.
Our analysis of 84 Sustainability Tech companies
$19.4b in tracked funding; 85% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Sustainability Tech companies in Chicago
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Employees | Founded | Founder | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMS Assist 🦄 Provider of SaaS-driven maintenance management solutions for commercial spaces | $255M | 120 mo ago | Acquired | 782 | 2003 | Jay McKee CEO | 4 patents Software algorithms for defining and managing geographic service area boundaries | — |
| 2 | Azumo Manufacturer of front-lit liquid crystal technology for displays | $56M | 49 mo ago | Series B | 41 | 2004 | — | 43 patents Film-based lightguide backlighting and edge‑light management for displays and privacy modes | — |
| 3 | Cohesion Provider of a platform for smart building management and operations 48Growth top 20%Funding top 35%Tech top 37%Talent top 38% All 12 signals ▾Growthtop 20% Fundingtop 35% Techtop 37% Talenttop 38% Moattop 41% Producttop 47% Globalbottom 40% Innovationbottom 36% Marketbottom 35% Patentsbottom 34% Newsbottom 21% Customersbottom 9% Growth: Headcount 21 → 44 (+110%) across vintages · 1 acquisition/expansion move in 24 mo Funding: Raised $30.2M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 6 yrs (0.7/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 48/100 | $30M | 6 mo ago | Series A | 44 | 2018 | Nick Lawrence Co-Founder | 3 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 4 | Durata Therapeutics Developing therapeutic medicine to treat infectious disease | $25M | 151 mo ago | Acqui-Hired | 68 | 2009 | — | — | — |
| 5 | ElectronX Provider of grid management solution | $15M | 7 mo ago | Series A | — | 2022 | Evan Caron Co-Founder | — | 1 launch · 1 expansion |
| 6 | Laconic Provider of securitized sovereign carbon assets. This company facilitates the conversion of natural resources… | $13M | 21 mo ago | Series A | 21 | 2022 | Andrew Gilmour CEO | — | — |
| 7 | LaGray Chem Innovative pharmaceutical company focused on affordable healthcare solutions for sub-Saharan Africa | $12M | 208 mo ago | Series A | 87 | 2000 | Alexandra Graham Co-Founder & President | — | — |
| 8 | Grid Status Cloud based dashboard creation software for energy industry | $8M | 22 mo ago | Series A | — | 2023 | Connor Waldoch Co-Founder | — | 2 launchs |
| 9 | Buildings As Batteries Developer of thermal energy storage system for commercial building applications | $8M | 95 mo ago | Series A | — | 2007 | Gregor Henze Co-Founder | — | — |
| 10 | Goby SaaS-driven platform offering energy management solutions | $7M | 64 mo ago | Acquired | 33 | 2008 | — | 2 patents Modular hygienic inductive charging stands for handheld electronic devices | — |
| 11 | Mezo Provider of AI-powered property maintenance software | $6M | 42 mo ago | Acquired | 29 | 2020 | Mike Travalini Co-Founder & CEO | 4 patents AI-powered chatbot platforms for automated maintenance diagnostics and repair troubleshooting | — |
| 12 | Intelligent Generation Virtual power plant networked software platform | $4M | 49 mo ago | Seed | 9 | 2009 | Paul Gazzolo Co-founder and Board Member | — | 1 job opening · 1 partnership |
| 13 | Sagegreenlife Developer of green living wall systems | $3M | 136 mo ago | Series A | 25 | 2009 | John Oberon COO | 2 patents Automated monitoring and control systems for vertical vegetation wall installations | — |
| 14 | Sigora International Provider of smart micro grid platform and smart meters | $3M | 102 mo ago | Seed | 36 | 2015 | Andy Bogdan Bindea Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 15 | Eta Vision Offers data center energy management solutions | $2M | 95 mo ago | Seed | 8 | 2015 | Michael Lingle CEO & Cofounder | — | — |
| 16 | Varuna Provider of solutions to manage drinking water system | $2M | 63 mo ago | Series A | 6 | 2018 | Seyi Fabode Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 17 | Datacrossing Data grid based decision support system for groundwater management | $2M | 27 mo ago | Seed | — | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Exactics Developer of rapid diagnostic solutions for convenient at-home healthcare use | $2M | 8 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 2021 | Dylan Murray Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer | — | — |
| 19 | PVPower An online marketplace for solar PV equipment | $1M | 174 mo ago | Acqui-Hired | 14 | 2009 | Dan Kuthy Co-Founder | — | — |
| 20 | ImmunArtes Biotech innovating vaccines and therapeutics against Staphylococcus aureus, a global health crisis | $499K | 53 mo ago | Seed | 4 | 2017 | Dominique Missiakas Co-Founder | — | 1 launch |
| 21 | Confluency Provider of solutions for water bodies management | $245K | 71 mo ago | Funding Raised | 4 | 2019 | Mason Throneburg Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 22 | Syndem Democratizing smart grids with synchronized inverters for stable, reliable power systems | $206K | 71 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 2017 | Qing-Chang Zhong Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 23 | SmarterShade Developer of user-controlled, powerless, affordable smart glass for privacy and energy | $200K | 157 mo ago | Seed | 2 | 2007 | Will McLeod Founder | 14 patents Smart adaptive windows using mechanically actuated variable light transmission technology | — |
| 24 | LUCHA Developer and manager of affordable housing, offering housing counseling and community programs | $167K | 172 mo ago | Funding Raised | 38 | 1982 | — | — | 1 job opening |
| 25 | Route SaaS-driven business management platform for the building services industry | $100K | 47 mo ago | Funding Raised | 11 | 2007 | Ricardo Regalado Founder & CEO | 5 patents Remote desktop access solutions and email message rerouting technologies | — |
| 26 | Lotic Labs Financial risk assessment solutions provider | $100K | 82 mo ago | Seed | 4 | 2016 | Matthew Marshall Co-Founder | 4 patents Wearable health data capture devices and ML-driven personal wellness analytics platform. | — |
Top 12 Sustainability Tech companies in Chicago
#1
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2018 · 44 employees$30.2Mraised▾
Provider of a platform for smart building management and operations. The platform offers solutions for access control, experience enhancement, and maintenance. It consolidates data from building systems, software, and sensors into a unified platform. The platform also provides advisory services for planning, solution design, and system integrations.
- Nov 2025Series A$250K
- Nov 2021Series A$15M
- Jul 2021Seed$7M
- Jul 2020Seed$8.2M
#2
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2022$15Mraised▾
Provider of grid management solution. It offers solutions to enable precision risk management, volatility hedging opportunities, and the monetization of power assets. It offers derivative products that capture the intraday price fluctuations of the changing electrical grid helping to smooth the financial path of clean energy adoption across the nation.
- Nov 2025Series A$36.5M
- Feb 2025Seed$10M
- Jun 2024Seed$15M
#3
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2021$1.5Mraised▾
Developer of rapid diagnostic solutions for convenient at-home healthcare use. The company builds diagnostic tools intended to make healthcare more accessible. It focuses on creating solutions for individuals to use within their homes.
- Oct 2025Grant (prize money)$1.5M
#4
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2022 · 21 employees$13Mraised▾
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- Aug 2024Series A$370K
- Sep 2023Series A$12.6M
- May 2022Seed$1M
#5
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2023$8Mraised▾
Cloud based dashboard creation software for energy industry. It is a real-time monitoring platform that provides data and insights on the electric grid. It offers a centralized hub for tracking energy supply, demand, and pricing across independent system operators. It allows users to visualize the data using graphs. The platform provides insights that assist teams to make data-driven decisions.
- Aug 2024Series A$8M
#6
Series B · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2004 · 41 employees$56.1Mraised▾
Manufacturer of front-lit liquid crystal technology for displays. It develops front-lit reflective LCDs that consume low power. Its features include a thin display stack, power efficiency, ambient light utilization, colour enhancement, and low-powered light-emitting diodes. It has applications in medical, educational, industrial, wearables, automotive, consumer electronics, and IoT systems.
- May 2022Series B$30M
- Dec 2020Series B$9M
- Nov 2018Series B$9M
- Aug 2017Series A$3.1M
#7
Acquired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2003 · 782 employees$255Mraised▾
Provider of SaaS-driven maintenance management solutions for commercial spaces. It integrates clients, affiliates, and employees in one online tech-enabled platform. It offers various managed like vendor management, facility management, work order management, call center management, quality assurance, and asset management. It also offers training and education programs to its technicians.
- Jun 2016Series D$150M
- May 2015Series C$45M
- Oct 2013Series B$45M
- Jun 2011Series A$15M
#8
Seed · Chicago, Illinois$1.5Mraised▾
Data grid based decision support system for groundwater management
#9
Acquired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2020 · 29 employees$6Mraised▾
Provider of AI-powered property maintenance software. This software integrates with existing property management systems to improve communication between residents and maintenance teams. It facilitates faster issue resolution through resident coaching and provides technicians with detailed information before arriving on-site. The platform leverages data to anticipate maintenance needs and optimize resource allocation, ultimately reducing costs and enhancing efficiency. The software offers features such as intelligent intake, asset tag matching, and real-time problem classification.
- Dec 2022Seed$6M
#10
Acquired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2008 · 33 employees$7.4Mraised▾
SaaS-driven platform offering energy management solutions. The platform helps building owners, architects, management companies, tenant representatives, tenants, and contractors integrate green thinking into their decision-making processes and policies. It facilitates owners to manage their entire portfolio on the cloud, turning data into actionable information.
- Jan 2021Series A$1.9M
- Sep 2019Series A—
- Dec 2015Series A$5M
- Aug 2014Seed$500K
#11
Acqui-Hired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2009 · 68 employees$25Mraised▾
Durata Therapeutics is clinical development stage pharmaceutical company with a focus on treating infectious diseases. The firm was in the process of developing a novel antibiotic for unmet medical need in hospital and outpatient settings. The firm's leading product candidate was dalbavancin, which was in late stage clinical development. It is an intravenous antibiotic product candidate, for the treatment of patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.
- Nov 2013Venture Debt$25M
#12
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2009 · 9 employees$3.6Mraised▾
Virtual power plant networked software platform. It democratizes how power is produced, stored, and delivered to make renewable energy economically sustainable by combining battery storage with renewable energy sources. The software takes into account final energy consumption, weather, and historical patterns to assess the demand. Based on the demand it charges the batteries from renewable energy sources and uses them when there is a surge in demand.
- May 2022Seed$3.6M
- Nov 2011Grant (prize money)—
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Sustainability Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
What Chicago researches in climate adaptation
University of Chicago, UIC, and Loyola lead Chicago's climate-adaptation research, focusing predominantly on urban stormwater and agricultural resilience, with a cautiously concerned yet moderately optimistic tone.
- University of Chicago6
- University of Illinois Chicago4
- Loyola University Chicago2
- Chicago Department of Public Health2
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.