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Mayor Emanuel Joins SMS Assist to Announce Company is Growing and Creating Jobs on Chicago’s Near-North Side


Cloud-based technology company has more than tripled its headcount since 2012 to 565 Nearly all at its John Hancock Center headquarters

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–June 23, 2016.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel and SMS Assist, an innovative mobile and cloud-based multisite property management company, today announced the company’s growth in technology and innovation. The company recently expanded to 565 employees – an increase of more than 175 employees in the last year – which more than triples its size since 2012 and represents a more than 1,000 percent increase since 2010.

“Chicago’s tech scene is booming, and I want to thank SMS Assist for adding jobs and supporting this entrepreneurial community,” Mayor Emanuel said. “Companies like SMS Assist are establishing the next generation of Chicago’s economy – an economy that is thriving due to the city’s central location, access to transportation, and unmatched talent.”

Earlier this month, SMS Assist raised $150 million from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, the same team that invested in Uber, Facebook, Pinterest and Spotify. Prior investors in SMS Assist include Insight Venture Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. SMS Assist continues to enter new markets on its explosive growth path.

From a modest 11,000 square-foot office on Hubbard Street in 2004, SMS Assist now fills nearly 90,000 square feet in the iconic Hancock Center on Michigan Avenue, where it is revolutionizing property management for a fast-growing list of national and Fortune 500 companies, including Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL), O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) and Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR).

“SMS Assist represents the quintessential Chicago story. We are transforming a traditional property maintenance business with our disruptive, industry-leading technology company,” said Mike Rothman, chairman and CEO of SMS Assist. “SMS Assist’s continued, rapid growth into new markets proves how our technology is bringing savings and profitability to our customers and affiliates.”

Ernst & Young awarded Rothman with the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year award in the technology category last week, in recognition of his transformative impact.

“At its core, SMS Assist does what the smartest tech companies do best and that’s disrupt traditional industries – in this case the $50 billion facilities maintenance and management market,” said J.B. Pritzker, Pritzker Group managing partner. “SMS Assist is proving you can provide real value and cost savings for both customers and service providers.”

SMS Assist’s proprietary technology platform and fully integrated business solution connect a network of more than 20,000 subcontracted affiliates and an estimated 500,000 technicians to provide the highest quality maintenance services to more than 130,000 client locations across the U.S.

SMS Assist was recently ranked as a Top 100 Digital Company by Built in Chicago and one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500.

About SMS Assist
SMS Assist is a Chicago-based technology company providing multisite property management to a roster of clients with more than 130,000 service locations. Using its proprietary software platform to manage its network of more than 20,000 affiliate subcontractors and 500,000 technicians, SMS Assist offers a suite of property management benefits including leveraged pricing of products and services, $30 million risk indemnification, real-time services validation, instant invoicing, automatic service audits and data analysis to ensure quality and cost efficiency. SMS Assist is revolutionizing multisite property management services for its growing list of national and Fortune 500 clients including Fortune 500 companies including Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL), O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) and Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR). To learn more, visit smsassist.com.

About Pritzker Group Venture Capital
Pritzker Group, led by Tony and J.B. Pritzker, has three principal investment teams: Private Capital, which acquires and operates leading North America-based companies; Venture Capital, which provides multi-stage venture funding to technology companies throughout the United States; and Asset Management, which partners with top-performing investment managers across global public markets.

Pritzker Group Venture Capital helps entrepreneurs build market-leading technology companies at every stage of their growth. Since its founding in 1996, the firm has worked side-by-side with entrepreneurs at more than 100 companies, building partnerships based on trust and integrity. The firm’s proprietary capital structure allows for tremendous flexibility, and its experienced team of investment professionals and entrepreneurs offers companies a vast network of strategic relationships and guidance. Successful exits in recent years include Fleetmatics (NYSE: FLTX), SinglePlatform (acquired by Constant Contact), Zinch (acquired by Chegg), Playdom (acquired by Disney), LeftHand Networks (acquired by Hewlett-Packard), and TicketsNow (acquired by Ticketmaster). For more information, visit pritzkergroup.com.

Source: http://www.cityofchicago.org

 

 

 


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