Mayor Lightfoot visiting London and Paris to promote Chicago's economic recovery

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot is making her first overseas trip since taking office, as she heads to Europe to promote the city as a world-class destination for tourists and businesses.

Lightfoot will lead an 18-member delegation on a five-day trip to London and Paris, where they will sell a message around the city's economic recovery, and pitch Chicago as a great place to do business.

The mayor also will speak and meet with European leaders during Fintech Week London, a conference on financial technology.

According to the mayor's office, Chicago is having the best economic recovery of any big city in the U.S., with 58 company expansions and 35 new company locations so far in 2022.

So far in 2022, 16 Chicago-based fintech companies have raised $479 million in venture capital, and 10 others raised $53 million in seed funding. Five Chicago fintech companies had exits – when investors sell their stake in a company – valued at a total of $730 million.

The mayor returns home on Sunday.