AdTech Landscape of Chicago
369 AdTech companies in Chicago, in one picture: who is hiring, who is raising money, who founded them, what the news is about and which skills employers want. Updated August 2026.
Who leads AdTech in Chicago
Shows the 369 Chicago AdTech firms, highlighting which are hiring, best funded, and most covered, with 25 currently hiring and 50 having disclosed recent funding.
- 01
NielsenIQ13last posted Aug 2026
- 02
Numerator12last posted Aug 2026
- 03
Circana12last posted Aug 2026
- 04
ActiveCampaign10last posted Jul 2026
- 05
Sprout Social7last posted Mar 2026
- 06
Cision6last posted Mar 2026
- 07
SMS-Magic5last posted Jul 2026
- 08
CDM Media4last posted Jun 2026
- 01
- 02
- 03
Signal$122.7MSeries E · Jan 2019
- 04
- 05
PowerReviews$90.7MSeries C · Oct 2020
- 06
DialogTech$90MSeries D · May 2020
- 07
dscout$81MSeries C · Mar 2022
- 08
Vibe$78.8MSeries B · Sep 2025
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
SPINS328tracked employees
- 05
Vail Systems209tracked employees
- 06
Civis Analytics169tracked employees
- 07
- 08
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
Emmi5.7%9 tracked events
- 06
StreamLayer5.1%8 tracked events
- 07
- 08
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
- 06
- 07
Target Data3articles in the window
- 08
Mavely3articles in the window
See all 369 AdTech companies in Chicago
Filter by funding, headcount, hiring and location, and export the list.
How the AdTech ecosystem in Chicago grew, 2016–2025
Shows the number of AdTech firms founded each year from 2016‑2025, peaking at 25 in 2018 and falling to 6 in 2025.
The AdTech market map of Chicago: what these companies actually do
Breaks down the product types these firms build and their revenue models, noting the largest sub‑categories and that subscription and advertising are the most common revenue streams.
The biggest kinds of AdTech company, by how many we track.
- Enterprise Tech256 companies · $1.7B raised · 23 hiring
- Enterprise Software206 companies · $1.6B raised · 21 hiring
- SaaS166 companies · $1.5B raised · 16 hiring
- Commerce Enablers21 companies · $303.8M raised · 3 hiring
- Lead Management20 companies · $17.1M raised
- Lead Generation18 companies · $17M raised
- Consumer Digital18 companies · $80.5M raised
- Retail SaaS16 companies · $303.8M raised · 1 hiring
- Gtm Software16 companies · $226.6M raised · 1 hiring
- Market Research Tools14 companies · $268M raised · 4 hiring
- E-Commerce SaaS13 companies · $296.7M raised · 1 hiring
- Conversion Rate Optimization11 companies · $700k raised
Monetization
How AdTech companies make money
How many companies earn revenue each way. Plenty use more than one model, so the counts add up to more than the sector.
Funding, M&A and the deals moving AdTech in Chicago
Lists 123 corporate events over the past two years, categorized by key people moves, mergers and acquisitions, new products, earnings releases, and other announcements.
- M&APrivate equity-backed Spins has acquired ecommerce and retail data firm MikMak.2026-01-14
- M&ALater –the world's most intelligent influencer marketing company, today announced new growth milestones and expanded client momentum one year after acquiring and fully integrating Mavely , the leading Everyday Influencer Platform®.2025-12-16
- M&ACision, a world leader in consumer and media analytics, today announced the acquisition of Trajaan, the industry-leading search intelligence platform.2025-12-11
- M&AEmmi is acquiring The English Cheesecake Company, a UK-based producer of "premium" desserts.2025-11-25
- M&AMonterail, a full-service software development company, has acquired Lakeview Labs, a boutique software developer, to strengthen its global engineering and product design capabilities.2025-10-09
- M&AE.tv owner eMedia has acquired a 30% stake in Pristine World Holdings, a specialist provider of visual effects services to global film and television markets, for R119-million.2025-10-03
- M&Athe acquisition of sensory insights platform Gastrograph AI2025-08-25
- M&AGlobal FinTech giant Broadridge Financial Solutions has acquired Cheltenham-based customer communications specialist Signal as it looks to expand its European presence.2025-08-19
- M&ASprout Social, a US company that offers cloud-based tools for managing social media, has acquired NewsWhip, an AI-powered media intelligence company based in Dublin.2025-07-31
- M&AMarket research firm Circana has closed the acquisition of NCS, a joint venture between Nielsen and Catalina.2025-06-06
Mergers and acquisitions
Deals from the last 24 months where a AdTech company in Chicago was the buyer or the one bought, newest first. “Undisclosed” means the price was never published — not that the deal was worth nothing.
| Acquirer | Target | Deal value | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| undisclosed | Completed | 2026-04-17 | ||
| undisclosed | — | 2026-02-09 | ||
| undisclosed | Announced | 2026-01-14 | ||
| undisclosed | Completed | 2025-12-18 | ||
| undisclosed | Completed | 2025-12-16 | ||
| undisclosed | Announced | 2025-12-11 |
Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work
Provides details on specific events such as IPO filings, leadership changes, product launches, and contract wins.
ABCS Insightsfull-funnel advertising effectiveness solutions (advertising measurement & analytics platform)Feb 2026
Who is building AdTech in Chicago
Profiles 184 founders and CEOs across 134 firms, showing their education and prior employers, with the University of Chicago and Amazon appearing most often.
Ex-Gravitytank, Guru, Wired. Stanford University BA 1995
Investor - Elaia. Epita Master of Engineering 2010
Ex-Obama for America, Democratic National Committee, FTI Consulting.
Mma Global, ex-Mobile Marketing Association, Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management, 2007
Ex-Product Value Systems, VPIsystems. University of Melbourne BA 1985, Swinburne University of Technology MBA 1991
Ex-Co-Founder & CEO SparkReel, Meritas Family of Schools, Sterling Partners. Miami University
Co-founder PeerWell, Ex-Co-Founder Mpact, Rapleaf, WooMeNow.com, karmaONE.org. UC Berkeley BA 2005
Ex-LiveOne, Coke, Budweiser, RedBull, NBC, Yahoo. Amherst College Bachelor’s Degree 1993
Ex-Epic, Falcon Consulting Group, Nordic, West Monroe, GE Ventures. Barcelona University 2007, University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2007…
- flagged as repeat founders3
- no repeat-founder flag143
- women10
- men166
Look up the people behind AdTech companies in Chicago
Search founders, executives and operators by company, role and location.
Who funds AdTech in Chicago
Summarizes 80 funding rounds since 2016 from 109 investors, with the typical round size of $5.2 million.
| Investor · most active investors since 2016 | Rounds | Led | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jump Capital | 4 | 1 | Sep 2020 |
| Susquehanna Growth Equity | 3 | 1 | Apr 2021 |
| Elaia | 3 | 1 | Sep 2025 |
| HPA | 3 | — | Dec 2018 |
| 500 Global | 2 | 2 | May 2017 |
| Beringea | 2 | 2 | Dec 2018 |
| 4490 Ventures | 2 | 2 | Nov 2022 |
| Techstars | 2 | 2 | Nov 2023 |
| New Enterprise Associates | 2 | 1 | Dec 2018 |
| Goldman Sachs | 2 | 1 | Dec 2018 |
The typical round is $5.2M — half were bigger, half smaller.
The biggest AdTech funding rounds in Chicago
Highlights the ten largest disclosed rounds, including ActiveCampaign’s $240 million Series C.
| Company | Round | Size | When | Backers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series C | $240M | Apr 2021 | Silversmith, Susquehanna Growth Equity, Dragoneer Investment Group +1 more | |
| Series B | $102.7M | Jan 2020 | Susquehanna Growth Equity, Silversmith Capital Partners | |
| Series C | $70M | Mar 2022 | Guidepost Growth Equity | |
| Series C | $50.3M | May 2017 | Summit Partners, GENUI, Sycamore Partners | |
| Series B | $50M | Sep 2025 | Hedosophia, Elaia, Singular +3 more | |
| Series C | $50M | Feb 2025 | — | |
| Series B | $45M | Jun 2016 | Syniverse | |
| Series C | $42M | Feb 2016 | New Enterprise Associates, Goldman Sachs | |
| Series D | $40.5M | Dec 2018 | Future Fund, New Enterprise Associates, Goldman Sachs | |
| Series B | $35M | Jul 2014 | ABS Capital |
What the news says about AdTech in Chicago
Counts 30,720 news articles about Chicago AdTech in the last year, indicating the most covered topics and frequently used terms.
What the coverage is about
The subjects that dominate AdTech news in United States. The arrow shows whether each one is being written about more or less than a year ago.
- Administrative and political subdivisions4,358,400▲+20%
- Geopolitical disputes and contested areas320,844▲+34%
- International and transnational geographic entities320,678▲+34%
- International political relations208,151▲+34%
- Security and defense policies145,113▲+60%
- International relations and diplomacy95,946▲+22%
- Geographic naming conventions and etymology82,164▲+453%
- Trade policies and agreements73,541→+8%
- Human rights advocacy reports69,954→+3%
- Political asylum and refugee policies56,591→+3%
- 331
- 57
- 53
- 17
- 8
- 6
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
19 AdTech companies here were named in the news over this period.
Watch AdTech coverage in United States as it happens
Prism follows these subjects story by story — which companies are named, what is said about them and how the tone moves.
Momentum
The words getting louder — and quieter
Which terms are showing up in more stories than a year ago, and which are fading. The percentage is the change in how many articles mention them.
The pressures the press keeps returning to
Three recurring angles in United States AdTech coverage, and whether each is getting more attention year on year (through 2025).
AdTech jobs in Chicago: who is hiring and what they ask for
Reports 1,337 job postings from 45 firms in the past year, listing top skills and a median advertised salary of $80 k per year.
Demand
The Skills Employers Ask For
What AdTech employers in Chicago put in their job ads. The bar is how many postings ask for it; the arrow shows whether demand grew or shrank against the year before.
- github25▲
- node.js23▲
- next.js22▲
- slack21▲
- python20▲
- notion20▲
- tailwind20▲
- sentry19▲
- postgres19▲
- excel17▲
- 311
- 159
- 58
- 50
- 30
- 28
140 AdTech-relevant internships in India were advertised over the same 12 months.
Track AdTech in Chicago beyond this page
Radar finds and filters the companies. Prism watches what is being said about them.
Direct contact details for the people on this page are held in Fliar Radar, behind its own access controls.