Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership | Illinois

Alex Bratton
Lextech Global Services

Lextech Labs LLC was a winner in the Best New Technology Product of the Year category of the 2010 Edison Awards, and a 2010 winner of a Chicago Innovation award.  For founder Alex Bratton these are among many achievements in his successful career as a serial entrepreneur.

Bratton earned a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, and has put that interest to work as a founder of more than 10 technology companies that developed cutting-edge products, in applications as diverse as rocket launching and online magazine publishing systems.  Along the way he also strengthened the communication and improvisation skills so valuable to entrepreneurs by studying comedy improvisation at Second City Chicago.  As Bratton noted in a News-Gazette interview in September, improvisation is “all about team-building and collaboration.”

Among his ventures, Bratton founded WebRPG, an online interactive environment for paper and dice rolling games enthusiasts, in 1996.  The Net Squad focused on providing interim technology leadership and development expertise for early stage companies.  In 2001, Bratton launched EmailRX.  As CTO he developed technology for an e-mail spam and anti-virus managed service provider.

His current ventures include Lextech Global Services, Lextech Labs LLC and Serious Apps.  Bratton founded Lextech Global Services in 2001, to develop ‘serious apps’ for mobile and web platforms.  These enterprise tools are designed with several characteristics in mind, including a business model to generate revenue or save money, usability, and integration with other customer systems. 

Lextech Labs LLC was launched in 2008.  Its tools distribute live and recorded video surveillance to mobile platforms, especially useful in public safety and security environments for live incident management and mobile investigations.  First responders and security personnel can make better real time decisions.

Most recently, Bratton founded Serious Apps, another organization that brings business applications to mobile platforms.

Lextech Global Services opened an office in the University of Illinois Research Park in summer 2011, in part to give the firm access to Illinois’ outstanding students.  Bratton also provides his expertise to young entrepreneurs.  He spoke with Illinois student entrepreneurs in September on choosing partners and employees, and vetting team members before a crisis hits.  In October he was an engineer entrepreneur in residence for Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering students. Students report that they greatly appreciate the valuable advice drawn from a wealth of experience.