Chicago AI Startup Parkside Labs Raises $50 Million, Plans to Hire 200 as Healthcare Tech Heats Up

Chicago’s growing artificial intelligence sector scored a major win Friday as Parkside Labs, a healthcare technology startup headquartered in River North, announced it has raised $50 million in Series B funding to expand its AI-powered medical diagnostic platform.

The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s bio fund, with participation from existing investors Hyde Park Venture Partners and Chicago Ventures. The funding values Parkside at approximately $250 million and represents one of the largest venture rounds for a Chicago healthcare tech company this year.

“Chicago has always been a healthcare town, and now it’s becoming a healthcare AI town,” said Parkside co-founder and CEO Dr. Aisha Patel, a former radiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “This funding allows us to scale our technology to hospitals across the country and, ultimately, save lives.”

The company plans to use the capital to hire approximately 200 employees over the next 18 months, including machine learning engineers, clinical specialists, and sales staff. Most positions will be based at Parkside’s River North headquarters, though the company is also opening a smaller office in San Francisco to tap into that city’s AI talent pool.

What Parkside Does

Parkside Labs has developed an AI system that analyzes medical imaging—X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and mammograms—to help radiologists identify diseases more quickly and accurately. The platform doesn’t replace human doctors; instead, it acts as a “second set of eyes,” flagging potential abnormalities that might otherwise be missed during rushed readings.

“Radiologists are under enormous pressure,” Patel explained during an interview at the company’s offices on Superior Street. “They might read hundreds of images in a single shift. Fatigue sets in, and things get missed. Our AI never gets tired, never loses focus. It catches the things that humans might overlook.”

The technology has shown particular promise in detecting early-stage cancers. In clinical trials conducted with Northwestern Medicine and Rush University Medical Center, Parkside’s system identified breast cancers at a rate 15 percent higher than radiologists working alone, while reducing false positives by 20 percent.

“The early results have been remarkable,” said Dr. Robert Nishimura, chair of radiology at Rush. “This isn’t about replacing radiologists—it’s about making us better at our jobs. The AI sees patterns that humans simply can’t perceive.”

Chicago’s Healthcare Tech Moment

Parkside’s funding comes amid a surge of investment in Chicago’s healthcare technology sector. The city’s concentration of major hospital systems, medical schools, and a deep pool of clinical talent has made it an attractive destination for companies working at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

Other recent Chicago healthcare tech success stories include Tempus, the precision medicine company founded by Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, which went public earlier this year at a valuation exceeding $6 billion. Health tech accelerator MATTER, based in the Merchandise Mart, has helped launch more than 100 healthcare startups since its founding in 2015.

“Chicago punches above its weight in healthcare innovation,” said Ira Weiss, a partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, which led Parkside’s seed and Series A rounds. “We have world-class hospitals, elite medical schools, and an increasingly sophisticated technology ecosystem. Companies like Parkside show what’s possible when those ingredients come together.”

The city’s relatively affordable cost of living compared to coastal tech hubs also gives Chicago-based startups an advantage in competing for talent, particularly among workers with families who balk at San Francisco or New York housing prices.

From Academic Research to Startup

Parkside was founded in 2021 by Patel and Dr. Michael Chen, a computer scientist who previously led machine learning research at Google Health. The two met at a healthcare AI conference and discovered they shared a frustration with the gap between academic research and real-world clinical applications.

“There’s so much promising AI research happening in labs, but very little of it reaches actual patients,” Chen said. “We wanted to build a company that bridges that gap—that takes cutting-edge technology and makes it useful in the real world of medicine.”

The company spent its first two years developing its core technology and conducting clinical trials with partner hospitals. It launched commercially in early 2025 and has since signed contracts with more than 30 hospital systems across the Midwest and East Coast, including Advocate Aurora Health, Northwell Health, and the Cleveland Clinic.

Revenue details were not disclosed, but the company said it has achieved “strong product-market fit” and is growing recurring revenue at triple-digit percentages year over year.

The Hiring Push

The 200 new positions Parkside plans to fill span a wide range of roles. The company is seeking machine learning engineers to continue developing its AI models, software engineers to build out its platform, clinical specialists to work with hospital partners, and sales and marketing staff to drive adoption.

Salaries for technical roles will be competitive with coastal markets, the company said, with machine learning engineers earning between $200,000 and $350,000 depending on experience. The company also offers equity compensation and a benefits package that includes comprehensive health insurance and 16 weeks of paid parental leave.

“We’re looking for people who want to work on something meaningful,” Patel said. “If you want to use AI to actually help people—not just optimize ad clicks—this is the place.”

The company currently employs about 75 people and occupies 15,000 square feet of office space. It plans to expand into additional floors of its current building as hiring accelerates.

Challenges Ahead

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding AI in healthcare, the industry faces significant challenges. Regulatory approval for AI-based medical devices remains complex and time-consuming. Hospitals are often slow to adopt new technologies, particularly those that require changes to established workflows. And concerns about algorithmic bias—the risk that AI systems might perform differently across racial or demographic groups—require careful attention.

Parkside says it has addressed the bias issue by training its models on diverse datasets that include patients from a wide range of backgrounds. The company has also received FDA clearance for several of its diagnostic tools, allowing it to market them to healthcare providers.

“We take these concerns seriously,” Chen said. “Healthcare AI has enormous potential, but only if it’s developed responsibly. We’ve built fairness and transparency into our process from the beginning.”

What Comes Next

With Series B funding secured, Parkside is focused on expansion. The company plans to extend its platform to new imaging modalities—including ultrasound and pathology slides—while also expanding geographically into new hospital markets.

Longer term, Patel envisions Parkside becoming a comprehensive AI platform for radiology, helping doctors not just identify diseases but also track their progression, predict outcomes, and recommend treatment options.

“We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible,” she said. “Five years from now, AI will be as essential to radiology as the imaging machines themselves. We want to be the company that makes that vision a reality.”

Current job openings are posted on Parkside’s careers page at parksidelabs.com/careers.