The Chicago Journal

University of Chicago and Microsoft Partner to Push Midwest AI Startups Into the Venture Pipeline

The Chicago Journal Staff 2 on April 15, 2026

A new accelerator program announced April 14 puts UChicago at the center of a coordinated effort to close the funding gap between Midwest university founders and coastal investors.

The University of Chicago‘s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and its Data Science Institute announced on April 14 a formal partnership with AI Research Commons (ARC) and Microsoft to identify and support early-stage artificial intelligence startups emerging from Midwest research universities.

The program operates under the umbrella of Third Coast Foundry, a San Francisco-based hub launched on March 10 by eight Midwest universities: the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, Carnegie Mellon University, The Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Washington University in St. Louis.

The April 14 announcement adds a structured commercial layer to Third Coast Foundry’s existing mission by bringing in two key partners — Microsoft and ARC — to provide both resources and direct access to Bay Area venture networks.

What the Problem Actually Is

The initiative addresses a funding reality that has long disadvantaged Midwest founders. According to PitchBook data cited by UChicago News, startups in the Midwest take approximately 18 months longer than their coastal peers to raise their first $500,000 in funding — a gap that can permanently alter a company’s trajectory before it ever reaches a Series A.

That delay is not typically a function of research quality. Together, the eight Third Coast Foundry partner institutions represent nearly $10 billion in annual research investment and more than 300,000 enrolled students. The pipeline of talent and intellectual property exists. What has historically been missing is proximity — both physical and relational — to the networks where early capital decisions are made.

“Midwest universities pioneered the early internet, and now they lead foundational AI research,” said Ajay Singh, co-founder of AI Research Commons, in the official program announcement. “We are excited to partner with these exceptional university startups on their entrepreneurial journeys.”

Samir Mayekar, managing director of the Polsky Center, framed the issue directly when Third Coast Foundry launched in March: “Venture capital remains highly concentrated in places like the Bay Area. Third Coast Foundry is about helping our founders access those networks while continuing to build their companies in the Midwest.”

What Selected Startups Receive

Founders who make it through the selection process gain a concrete set of resources, not just a credential. According to the official Polsky Center announcement, each selected team receives:

Up to $350,000 in Microsoft Azure startup credits on eligible services, direct access to leading AI models through Azure, one-on-one technical guidance from Microsoft experts, discounts on tools including GitHub, Microsoft 365, and LinkedIn Premium, and connections to the Bay Area AI investor network — including introductions facilitated through ARC’s relationships with San Francisco-based venture firms. Selected teams also receive support from UChicago student interns as part of the program structure.

The combination of technical infrastructure and investor access is designed to compress the timeline that Midwest founders typically face when trying to break into venture-backed growth.

How the Selection Process Works

ARC will work alongside the entrepreneurship and innovation teams at each Third Coast Foundry university to identify candidates. University partners will contribute to candidate identification, technical due diligence, and founder support to ensure consistency across the cohort.

The program is currently in the identification phase, with startup scouting underway in spring 2026. Selected teams are expected to be announced in early summer for the program kickoff. University-based founders interested in being considered can submit a short statement of interest through the Polsky Center by May 1.

The program is explicitly aimed at inception-stage companies — early enough that the technical and go-to-market support can shape the company’s architecture before those decisions calcify.

What It Means for Chicago’s Innovation Ecosystem

For Chicago, the partnership reinforces UChicago’s emerging role not just as a research institution but as an active node in the national startup pipeline. The Polsky Center has spent the last several years building out its commercialization infrastructure, and the Microsoft-ARC partnership marks the most visible external validation of that effort to date.

Third Coast Foundry itself — anchored in San Francisco’s South Park neighborhood, steps from one of the world’s largest concentrations of venture capital — was designed as a shared resource rather than a competition among peer institutions. Rather than each university establishing a separate Bay Area presence, the consortium pools its credibility and reach to create a single access point that carries more weight with investors than any single institution could individually.

For the broader Midwest tech ecosystem, the timing is notable. AI research investment is accelerating across the country, and the window to establish Midwest universities as visible sources of venture-backable AI companies is narrow. Programs like this one make the case that geography need not determine funding outcomes — but making that case requires structured, institutionally backed proof, not just individual founder hustle.

The program’s two-year pilot structure gives the universities and their partners a defined timeline to demonstrate that the model works — and to build the kind of investor relationships that outlast any single cohort.

Your Habits Are Either Building Your Future or Quietly Undermining It

The Chicago Journal Staff on April 15, 2026

By: William Jones

There is a simple idea that is easy to overlook. Habits are either working for someone or against them. There is no neutral ground.

Every day, through small repeated actions, a person reinforces the identity they are becoming. The future is not shaped by grand gestures or dramatic decisions. It is shaped by what someone consistently does when no one is watching and nothing feels particularly significant.

This is the foundation of Stephen Childs’ approach to high performance. As an executive coach, leadership strategist, and author whose work sits at the intersection of neuroscience and sustainable success, Childs has spent two decades helping executives, entrepreneurs, and high-performing professionals build the internal systems that support meaningful, sustained growth. And the insight that runs through everything he teaches is deceptively simple.

“The challenge for most high-performing individuals is not a lack of ambition,” says Childs, whose coaching practice at Neuro Executive Coaching works with leaders at every level of an organization. “It is a lack of structure. There is a tendency to rely on motivation, even though motivation is inherently inconsistent. It comes and goes, often influenced by factors outside of a person’s control. Consistency is built differently. It is built through systems and repeatable actions that do not depend on how someone feels in the moment.”

This is why goals, on their own, rarely produce lasting change. James Clear captured it precisely: you do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. What matters most is not what someone plans to achieve but what they consistently do. And what they consistently do is almost always determined by the habits quietly running in the background of their daily life.

The Pattern That Changed Everything

During his time in an executive coaching program at Columbia University, Childs began to notice a pattern that would reshape how he approaches leadership development entirely.

The individuals who made meaningful progress were not necessarily the most experienced or the most ambitious in the room. They were the ones who could identify a simple habit and sustain it over time. The ones who could not, regardless of their intelligence or drive, consistently struggled to translate intention into lasting change.

One client stands out in particular. She was an accomplished leader with a strong track record, yet she felt stuck. Her team was disengaged, her schedule felt overwhelming, and despite her considerable expertise, the results were not aligning with her expectations.

Rather than introducing a complex development strategy, Childs focused on one habit. Pause before responding. Each time she received an email, a request, or a challenge, she gave herself sixty seconds. A brief moment to breathe, to think, and to choose her response with intention rather than react automatically.

Within weeks, the shift became noticeable. Her communication changed. Her presence became more grounded. Her team began to respond differently to her. What appeared to be a small and almost trivial adjustment created a meaningful ripple effect across her entire leadership style.

“That is what one intentional habit can do,” Childs says. “It does not just change the behavior. It begins to change the identity.”

When the Lesson Becomes Personal

Around that same period, Childs encountered a version of this lesson in his own life that he has since shared with many of the leaders he coaches.

One evening, his daughter told him something that stayed with him. She explained that while she appreciated his effort to help, she did not always feel heard. It was a moment that required honest reflection. Childs realized he had developed a strong habit of moving quickly into problem-solving mode. In a professional setting, that instinct is valuable. In a personal relationship, it creates distance.

So he made a deliberate change. He committed to listening without interrupting, without offering immediate solutions, without rushing to fix. Just being present, asking thoughtful questions, and allowing space for the conversation to unfold.

Over time, the impact was significant. Conversations became more meaningful. Trust deepened. And he was reminded of something he now shares consistently in his coaching work and in his book Just Be Undeniable: leadership, at work and at home, is often less about providing answers and more about creating the conditions for others to find their own.

Why One Habit Is Enough to Start

A single habit can feel too small to matter. It can seem insignificant compared to larger goals and long-term ambitions. But Childs argues that this perception is precisely what causes most people to overcomplicate change and ultimately abandon it.

“The real value is not just in the habit itself,” he explains. “It is in what the habit reinforces. When someone consistently follows through on one intentional behavior, they begin to build trust in themselves. They demonstrate through action, not just intention, that change is possible. And that belief has a way of extending beyond one area and influencing everything else.”

Over time, a person relies less on external motivation and more on internal discipline. They begin to create momentum rather than wait for it. Small actions accumulate, often in ways that are not immediately visible, but deeply impactful over months and years.

For anyone wondering where to begin, Childs offers a simple starting point. Reflect honestly on whether daily habits are aligned with the person you want to become. If there is a gap, the solution is not to set more ambitious goals. It is to design a system that supports consistent action. Choose one habit, keep it simple enough to sustain but meaningful enough to matter, and commit to it not only when it is convenient but especially when it requires effort.

Lasting change rarely comes from a single defining moment. It is built through small, consistent actions that, over time, shape both behavior and identity.

More about Stephen Childs’ work in executive coaching and leadership development, including his coaching programs and the Undeniable community, is available through his LinkedIn profile and the Neuro Executive Coaching website.