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Find Co-founders in ChicagoBuild Your Network matches founders in Chicago who are actively looking for a co-founder. Set your skills, declare your intent, and get surfaced to founders in Chicago with complementary profiles — no cold email required.
The best co-founders come from warm connections in your ecosystem. Chicago has a strong startup base across enterprise SaaS, fintech, food tech, logistics, and industrial tech, supported by JUMP Investors, Hyde Park Angels, 1871 tech hub, and the University of Chicago Polsky Center.
Build Your Network makes co-founder discovery in Chicago intent-driven: both parties declare they're looking for a co-founder before the match is made. This filters out passive networkers and surfaces only founders who are actively building and ready to partner.
Built for Chicago's founder ecosystem
Tell BYN your skills and what you're building. It surfaces co-founder candidates in Chicago with complementary profiles.
Co-founder matches only happen when both founders have declared they're looking — no wasted conversations.
Filter by distance within Chicago to find co-founders you can meet in person for the early-stage work that matters.
About startup networking in Chicago
Join Build Your Network free, set your intent to "Looking for Co-founder", add your skills and startup description, and enable location discovery in Chicago. BYN surfaces founders in Chicago with complementary skills who are also looking for a co-founder. You can filter by distance — 10 km, 50 km, or 200 km.
The most common co-founder pairings in Chicago's ecosystem are technical + business (a developer and a GTM founder), or domain expert + operator. In Chicago's enterprise SaaS, fintech, food tech, logistics, and industrial tech space, look for complementary expertise rather than duplicate skills. BYN lets you filter by skill category.
Yes. Every BYN member has a verified profile with their intent, current project, and background visible before you connect. You can review their profile, see their skills and what they're building, and message them directly — all before any commitment.
Most founders on BYN receive their first relevant co-founder match within 48 hours of setting up a complete profile. Response rates are higher than LinkedIn DMs because both parties have declared matching intent before the connection request.
Yes. Chicago has a strong talent base across enterprise SaaS, fintech, food tech, logistics, and industrial tech, and BYN has profiles from engineers, product managers, designers, and domain experts in the city. Filter by skill (engineering, product, design, finance, marketing) to find the right complement for your startup.
Build Your Network (BYN) is a free intent-based networking platform for startup founders. Free accounts include profile creation, co-founder matching, and direct messaging. Premium plans unlock unlimited daily connections and priority discovery.
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