Aeropay unveils penthouse headquarters in the Loop, plans to hire up to 30 more in Chicago

Story Highlights

• Aeropay opened 15,000-square-foot Chicago headquarters at One East Wacker.
• The fintech startup plans to hire 20 to 30 employees.
• Aeropay requires four-day office attendance starting after winter ends.

A local fintech startup that has made a point to bring its workers back to the office opened its new Chicago headquarters at One East Wacker late last year. Aeropay occupies the entire 39th-floor penthouse in space designed for collaboration.

COO Josh Chapman said the pay-by-bank provider is prioritizing growth in Chicago following the big move.

"Like a lot of companies during Covid, we started hiring remotely and we thought it made sense, but now as we continue to hire and ramp up, we're looking to build in Chicago first," he told the Chicago Business Journal.

Aeropay expanded to 15,000 square feet at the Loop office building following a $20 million Series B in 2024.

Chapman said the company expects to hire another 20 to 30 full-time employees in 2026, adding to its 60-person team in Chicago.

"We wanted to give our team a reason to want to be in the office more regularly," he said. "We added different features from coffee machines to the type of furniture picked out to the flooring that's meant to feel warm."

For the past three years Aeropay has required employees to be in the office three days a week. That is moving to four days a week after winter ends.

Aeropay's new office comes with what Chapman called the Aero Lab, which can hold around 50 people. The space allows anyone to hold an all-hands meeting, and provides areas where teams can come together, brainstorm and sketch things out on a dry-erase board.

"Collaboration was what was most important to us. We find that solutions accelerate in that environment," he said.

Aeropay expects to outgrow its current floor and plans to continue to expand within the building.

"We felt that being in the Loop and right along the river was the ideal spot to have access to financial service firms," Chapman said. "Now with Google coming to the Thompson Center, this particular corridor of the Loop is where we think the next hot spot for innovation will be."

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