Brad Keywell

Brad Keywell (born October 1969) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist from Michigan. He is the founder and CEO of Uptake Technologies, an industrial AI software provider. He is a founding investor of Tempus Labs, co-founder of Groupon,[1] Echo Global Logistics, Mediaocean,[2] Drivin, and Lightbank. Keywell is the recipient of the 2019 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year award.[3]

Brad Keywell
BornOctober 1969 (age 50)
Alma materUniversity of Michigan (JD) (BBA)
OccupationFounder & CEO, Uptake Technologies
Home townBloomfield Hills, Michigan, US
Spouse(s)Kimberly
Websitebradkeywell.com

Early life and education

Keywell grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and attended Cranbrook Schools. He studied at the London School of Economics in 1990, received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1991 from the University of Michigan[4] and a Juris Doctor cum laude in 1993 from the University of Michigan Law School. He is a member of the Michigan Bar Association and the State Bar of Illinois.[5]

Career

Keywell started his career as an intern for Sam Zell's Equity Group Investments, LLC. In 1999, he and Eric Lefkofsky co-founded Starbelly, an online supply chain management firm, which was acquired in January 2000 by HA-LO (NYSE:HMK), for $240 million.[6] In February 2005, he co-founded Echo Global Logistics, a technology-based enterprise transportation management firm, which became a publicly-traded company on NASDAQ in June 2009.[7] Keywell served as the Chairman of the Board of the company until 2017.

In June 2006, Keywell co-founded MediaBank, a SaaS provider to the advertising and media buying industry. In 2012, a merger between MediaBank and Donovan Data Systems (DDS) created Mediaocean, and in 2014, Vista Equity Partners acquired MediaOcean, for an estimated $1.5 billion.[8][9] In 2007, he co-founded ThePoint.com, an online collective action website. In late 2008, it became a collective buying platform, and changed its name to Groupon. The company went public in 2011 on NASDAQ.[10] Keywell served on the Board of Directors from its inception through 2018.

In February 2010, Keywell co-founded Lightbank, a technology venture and mid-stage investment firm.[11] In 2013, he co-founded DRIVIN, an automobile data analytics company. In 2016, KAR Auction Services (NYSE:KAR) acquired DRIVIN in a $43 million stock deal.[12] In July 2014, Keywell founded the industrial AI software company Uptake; the third unicorn in Illinois, valued at over $2.3 billion.[13] In 2015, he became an early investor and director of Tempus, a medical technology company.[14] In September 2018, he founded and launched the wndr museum, an experiential art museum located in Chicago’s West Loop.[15]

Keywell has been an adjunct professor at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago[16] and the author of the book Biz Dev 3.0: Changing Business as We Know It, published by ALM Publishing.[17] He is the host of a podcast, The Upside, and a participant of the Renaissance Weekend and the TED Conference.[18]

Philanthropy

In 2014, Keywell created the Keywell Foundation to support nonprofit and NGO enterprises. In 2015 he and his wife Kim took The Giving Pledge to give away half of their wealth.[19]

He is the founder and chairman of Chicago Ideas, an innovations and ideas gathering.[20] He is Chairman of the Future Founders Foundation, providing entrepreneurial education to students in Chicago, and Illinois Innovation Council.[21]

Awards

Keywell was the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019.[22]

gollark: There has to be a thing bridging websocket to IRC on the backend.
gollark: What if we replace websockets with dedicated IRC channels?
gollark: It will not be an epic diagram.
gollark: <@213674115700097025> It has been 12 minutes. Your diagram is to be completed.
gollark: Or SCP-7812 instances disguised as them?

References
  1. Taylor, Charile. "US tech veteran named EY World Entrepreneur of the Year for 2019". Irish Times.
  2. Miller, Ben. "GE and Uptake agree to make nice, settle opposing lawsuits". Chicago Business Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  3. "Brad Keywell, CEO, Uptake Technologies, Inc". www.ey.com. Ernst & Young.
  4. Lev-Ram, Michal. "The race to the Internet of things". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  5. "Bradley A. Keywell | Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies". zli.umich.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  6. "Ha-lo Buys Starbelly.com". Chicago Tribune. January 24, 2000.
  7. "ECHO". Crunchbase.
  8. Joe Mandese (September 25, 2011). "Rivals Donovan And MediaBank Merge To Form 'MediaOcean,' Will Develop New 'OS' For Madison Avenue". MediaPost News.
  9. Liyakasa, Kelly. "Mediaocean Acquired By Private Equity Firm Vista". Ad Exchanger. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  10. Pepitone, Julianne. "Groupon spikes 31% in IPO". CNN Money. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  11. "Lightbank - Portfolio". lightbank.com.
  12. "KAR Acquires DRIVIN to Bolster Data Analytic Capabilities and Strengthen Leading Remarketing Platform". Global Newswire. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  13. Scott, Alwyn. "U.S. startup Uptake valued at $2.3 billion in new funding round". U.S. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  14. Bertagnoli, Lisa. "Life after Groupon: Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell". Chicago Business. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  15. Silver, Kate. "Lights, cameras, interaction: Exploring Chicago's Instagrammable Wndr museum". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  16. "Teaching the Secrets of Successful Serial Entrepreneurship".
  17. Keywell, Brad (2001). Biz Dev 3.0 - Brad Keywell. ISBN 0970597010.
  18. "Brad Keywell's TED Recommendations". www.ted.com.
  19. "Groupon's Keywell promises to give away at least half his wealth". Crain's Chicago Business. June 2, 2015.
  20. "Chicago Ideas". Chicago Ideas. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  21. "Governor Quinn Announces Creation of Illinois Innovation Council". State of Illinois. February 16, 2011. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014.
  22. Bounds, Andy. "AI software founder wins world entrepreneur award". Financial Times.
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