Schaumburg Startup Founder Camille Forsythe Sells AI Company for $70 Million

Camille Forsythe's Schaumburg-based artificial intelligence startup, ClarityGrid, was acquired this week by a national data analytics firm for approximately $70 million, capping a five-year run in which the company grew from a two-person operation into a 65-employee business serving insurance and financial services clients across the Midwest.

Forsythe founded ClarityGrid after leaving a data science role at a Chicago-based insurance company, building software that helps organizations identify errors and inconsistencies in large datasets before they get used in reporting or compliance filings. The company built its early client base almost entirely among northwest suburban insurers before expanding into financial services data clients.

"We built this company slowly and mostly on referrals, which isn't the fastest way to grow, but it meant every client we had actually needed what we built," Forsythe said. "Getting an acquisition offer this size after bootstrapping the first three years without outside investment still feels surreal."

Under terms of the deal, ClarityGrid will continue operating out of its Schaumburg office and retain its current staff, according to Forsythe, who will stay on as a general manager under the acquiring company for at least two years as part of the transition agreement. The acquiring firm said it was drawn to ClarityGrid's established relationships with Midwest insurance clients, a customer base it has struggled to penetrate on its own.

Forsythe said she plans to use a portion of the proceeds to fund a scholarship program for northwest suburban students pursuing computer science degrees, an area she said personally mattered to her as a first-generation college graduate.