Mapping the Midwest Innovation Ecosystem

A data-driven platform to discover, track, and grow startups, talent, and investment across the Midwest.

March 2026

Innovation Waves

Innovation's really big waves play out over 50 years — and they compound

Market capitalisation ($T) · S&P 500, STOXX Europe 600, FTSE 100

Market Context

Tech vs. Non-Tech: Earnings Power Continues to Bifurcate

Indexed earnings (Jun 2021 = 100) · S&P 500 Top 10 stocks vs. the remaining 490

Global Perspective

A Dramatic Shift in the Center of Gravity

Top-20 companies by market cap · Share by region over time · Bubble size = % share

Economic Scale

If the Midwest were a country, it would be the 4th largest economy in the world

GDP comparison, nominal $ (2024)

🇩🇪

$4.7T

Germany

🌽

~$4.7T

Midwest

🇯🇵

$4.2T

Japan

🐻

$4.1T

California

🇮🇳

$3.9T

India

🇬🇧

$3.5T

UK

🇫🇷

$3.2T

France

The Innovation Gap

Startup value relative to economic size

Combined enterprise value as % of GDP · Higher = more startup-driven economy

Location

GDP

Startup EV

EV / GDP

🐻 California

$4.1T

$21.7T

529%

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$3.5T

$1.2T

34%

🇮🇳 India

$3.9T

$889B

23%

🌽 Midwest

~$4.7T

$685B

15%

🇫🇷 France

$3.2T

$416B

13%

🇩🇪 Germany

$4.7T

$415B

9%

🇯🇵 Japan

$4.2T

$275B

7%

The Opportunity

The Midwest generates ~16% of U.S. GDP
but captures just ~3–5% of venture capital

Share of U.S. GDP

~16%

Share of U.S. Venture Capital

~3–5%

One of the largest capital allocation gaps in the U.S. economy

Productivity

San Francisco productivity is 1.8× that of Manhattan

The Bay Area is an anomaly within the US, too.

$570K

San Francisco-
Oakland

$340K

San Jose-
Sunnyvale

$325K

Manhattan

$250K

Seattle-
Tacoma

$155K

US Average

Global Concentration

Where $100B+ companies
are being built

Founded since 1990 · by founding location

Bay Area: 21 Rest of USA: 0

Nvidia · Alphabet · Broadcom · Meta · Tesla · OpenAI · Netflix · Palantir · Salesforce · AppLovin · Intuitive · Uber · Anthropic · ServiceNow · Arista · Databricks · Palo Alto Networks · CrowdStrike · Robinhood · Stripe · Equinix

Company Funnel

Midwest Startup Pipeline

10K+

Startups

<$15M funding

1,302

Breakouts

$15–$100M

304

Scaleups

$100M+ funding

99

Unicorns

$1–$10B valuation

9

Decacorns

$10–$100B valuation

Combined Enterprise Value

Midwest startup value has grown 3.8× in a decade

▲

14% CAGR

$174B

2016

$660B

2026

Regional Comparison

Midwest EV: Room to Grow

Combined enterprise value by US region · As of 2025

Region

Combined EV (2025)

EV Growth (2017–2025)

West Coast (excl. Bay Area)

$4.8T

8.1x

Northeastern United States

$3.5T

4.9x

Southeastern United States

$1.3T

5.3x

Midwestern United States

$685B

3.8x

Western US (Mountain)

$353B

4.3x

State-Level Breakdown

Illinois Leads, Ohio & Michigan Growing Fastest

Midwest states by combined enterprise value · 2025

State

Combined EV (2025)

EV Growth (2017–2025)

Illinois

$268B

3.6x

Michigan

$98B

6.2x

Ohio

$97B

7.3x

Minnesota

$71B

2.5x

Wisconsin

$36B

2.9x

Missouri

$31B

3.0x

Indiana

$25B

2.6x

Kansas

$24B

3.8x

Iowa

$22B

1.8x

Funding Progression

Graduation Rates by Region

% of startups that advance to the next funding stage

Pre-Seed → Seed

Northeast

32%

West Coast

31%

Midwest

28%

Southeast

26%

Mountain

20%

Seed → Series A

Northeast

35%

West Coast

31%

Mountain

31%

Midwest

30%

Southeast

26%

A → Series B

Northeast

41%

West Coast

37%

Midwest

34%

Southeast

33%

Mountain

33%

B → Series C

Northeast

41%

Midwest

40%

Southeast

34%

West Coast

34%

Mountain

31%

Outcome Rates

From Funded to Breakout Outcomes

% of funded startups reaching milestone stages

Funded → Mega

Northeast

4%

West Coast

4%

Mountain

3%

Midwest

3%

Southeast

3%

Funded → Mega+

Northeast

2%

West Coast

2%

Mountain

2%

Southeast

1%

Midwest

1%

Funded → Unicorn

Northeast

2%

West Coast

2%

Mountain

2%

Midwest

1%

Southeast

1%

Funded → Decacorn

Northeast

0.21%

West Coast

0.19%

Mountain

0.14%

Southeast

0.14%

Midwest

0.12%

Unicorn Tracker

Cumulative Unicorns+ in the Midwest

National Benchmark

Chicago in the Hitting Stride Tier

VC investment 2020–2025 per capita

Building Momentum

$1K-$2K

Hitting Stride

$2K-$5K

Breakout

$5K-$10K

Powerhouse

$10K+

Midwest by Sector

Sector	Startups	Breakouts	Scale-ups	Unicorns	Decacorns	Enterprise Value

Sector Conversion

Breakout conversion by sector

0%20%40%

eCommerce & Marketplaces

35.0%

Biotech & Life Sciences

28.7%

Space

28.6%

Health Tech & Medtech

28.0%

Cybersecurity

23.9%

AI

23.3%

Other B2B Software

22.4%

Fintech

21.2%

Transportation

18.3%

Marketing

17.9%

Energy

17.3%

0%20%40%

Robotics

15.8%

Consumer Services

15.7%

Food

15.5%

Aviation

15.4%

Semiconductors

14.1%

Edtech

13.6%

Real Estate & Property

12.2%

Other

10.5%

Professional Services & HR

10.4%

Consumer & Lifestyle

9.5%

Defence

0.0%

Beyond Fintech, Health & Life Sciences

Fast-emerging sectors in the Midwest

The established base

Fintech, Health Tech & Biotech

$84.6B

Fintech · Enterprise Value

$79.4B

Biotech & Life Sciences · EV

$47.9B

Health Tech & Medtech · EV

What's emerging

Aviation

Breakout-stage · 2 rounds

+419%

$68.0M

Space

Breakout-stage · 2 rounds

+308%

$31.0M

AI

Early +121% · Breakout +49%

+121%

76 rounds

Robotics

Breakout-stage · 7 rounds

+71%

$203.4M

Defence

11 startups · $767.8M EV

New

$69.8M raised

Energy

Breakout +12% · 27 rounds

+12%

$433.5M

Regional Ecosystems

Midwest Startup Ecosystems

Standout sectors by city

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Health & MedTech

Cybersecurity

Life Sciences

Ann Arbor

Cybersecurity

Defence

Semiconductors

Detroit

Transportation

Robotics

Climate Tech

Chicago

Fintech

Health & MedTech

Food

St. Louis

Health & MedTech

Cybersecurity

Food

Indianapolis

Life Sciences

Food

Health & MedTech

Columbus

Cybersecurity

Crypto

Robotics

Cincinnati

Health & MedTech

Tech

Food

Ecosystem Market Map

Knowledge → Formation → Capital → Scale

How Midwest startups get built — the full value chain across 8 states

1

Knowledge & Talent

Research Universities

MichiganNorthwestern U of ChicagoUIUC PurdueOhio State UW-MadisonU of Minnesota WashUNotre Dame Case Western

Commercialization

Polsky Center Purdue FoundryWARF

Infrastructure

University tech transfer Venture offices

Research Strengths

EngineeringBiotech MaterialsManufacturing Health SciencesCS / AI

2

Company Formation

Accelerators & Incubators

1871mHUB MATTERTechstars Plug and Playgener8tor The BranderyTechTown NewlabIowa Startup Accel. NMotion

Innovation Districts

CortexSt. Louis CintrifuseCincinnati Venture Café

Founder Support

Rev1 VenturesBioSTL

Programs

Startup studios Builder programs

3

Capital Stack

Angels

Queen City Angels Regional angel networks Michigan Capital Network

Pre-Seed & Seed

Hyde Park VPM25 Chicago VenturesOrigin Ventures Serra VenturesLudlow Ventures

Series A+ / Multi-Stage

Drive CapitalLightbank Jump CapitalDundee VC Allos Ventures

Public / Non-Dilutive

State seed fundsOhio Third Frontier

Federal

SBIR / STTRInnovation grants

4

Scale-Up Infra

State Programs

JobsOhioMEDC Launch MNWEDC IL Innovation Network Invest Nebraska

Ecosystem Connectors

Cortex DistrictCintrifuse BioSTLVenture Café MI Venture Capital Assoc.

Corporate & Market Access

P&GAbbottCaterpillar

Industry Channels

Healthcare systems Manufacturing partners Industrial buyers

Founder Networks

Midwest Startup Mafias

Alumni startup networks — number of VC-backed companies founded by ex-employees

Talent Pipeline

Where Midwest Founders Worked Before

Previous employers of 841 startup founders now building in the Midwest

Microsoft

45

Google

39

Apple

24

Salesforce

19

Amazon

14

SAP

10

PayPal

8

Uber

8

Meta 5 · Tesla 5 · Yahoo 5 · X 5

▲ BIG TECH ALUMNI

▼ MIDWEST-NATIVE ALUMNI

ExactTarget

23

Indianapolis

Groupon

16

Chicago

Angie's List

7

Orbitz

7

Climate Corp.

6

Uptake

5

Grubhub

5

Enova Intl

5

Sprout Social · Relativity · Barracuda · Lyft · +400 more

Top source: Big Tech (MAANG + SAP, Salesforce)

Strong recycling: Midwest unicorn alumni founding next wave

Founder Networks

The Groupon Mafia

Companies founded by ex-Groupon employees — a Chicago-born network now spanning 6 continents

Talent & Diversity

Origin of Unicorn Founders

Country of origin of founders behind Midwest unicorns and decacorns

🇺🇸 USA

121

70.8%

🇪🇺 Europe

14

🇮🇳 India

11

🇬🇧 UK

3

🇨🇳 China

3

🇿🇦 S. Africa

2

🇨🇦 Canada

2

🇺🇦 Ukraine

2

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan

2

🇷🇺 Russia

2

🇦🇷 ARG

1

🇮🇪 IRL

1

🇧🇬 BUL

1

🇩🇰 DNK

1

🇸🇪 Sweden

1

🇩🇪 Germany

1

🇵🇱 Poland

1

🇫🇷 France

1

🇮🇱 Israel

1

🇲🇽 Mexico

1

Education & Talent Pipeline

Where Unicorn Founders Studied

255 universities · Top schools attended by Midwest unicorn & decacorn founders

NORTH AMERICA

338

Michigan

13

Harvard

11

Stanford

10

Northwestern

9

Minnesota

8

MIT

7

Chicago

7

Wisconsin

7

UPenn

6

Miami U.

6

Ohio St.

5

Illinois

5

Cornell

4

Wash.

4

Iowa St

4

UCLA 3 · DePaul 3 · Purdue 3 · Columbia 4

+200 more universities

Indiana 4 · Columbia 4 · Iowa State 4

EUROPE

46

Oxford

3

Cambridge

2

ETH · INSEAD · London · Amsterdam · +38 more

ASIA 30

IIT · Birla · NUS · +25 more

Oceania 5

S. America 3

Capital & Investors

Top 50 Investors by Unicorn Coverage

Cumulative unicorn investment coverage across Midwest startups (founded since 1990)

Cumulative Unicorn Coverage — Top 50

Top Investors — Unicorns & Decacorns

Investor	Unicorns	Decacorns	Total	EV
NEA	10	0	10	$20.3B
Insight Partners	9	1	11	$35.0B
Tiger Global	8	0	8	$19.1B
Silicon Valley Bank	7	1	8	$19.1B
TCV	7	0	7	$9.3B
Lightbank	6	0	6	$15.5B
Goldman Sachs	6	0	6	$11.6B
General Atlantic	5	2	7	$27.9B
SoftBank	5	0	5	$8.3B
Pritzker Group VC	5	0	5	$12.1B
Hyde Park VP	5	0	5	$4.1B
Battery Ventures	4	0	6	$9.0B
Chicago Ventures	4	0	5	$6.9B
Vision Fund	5	0	5	$7.2B

AI Talent

Where AI Talent Sits in Chicago

16 companies by AI talent count · Block size = talent count

Tempus

104

Getty Images

37

Relativity

29

Blue Health Intel.

28

Alight

28

Groupon

22

Project44

15

Sprout Social

14

Envestnet

11

Civis Analytics

11

Uptake

10

Other (45 cos.)

151

Oak Street Health

37

Paylocity

29

Enova International

23

GoHealth

14

+ more

The Data Flow

Your Data In. Ecosystem Insights Out.

Share your data in any format. Dealroom enriches it and feeds it back as live insights for your ecosystem.

1

You upload

.xlsx

.csv

.pdf

email

Drop anything here

2

Dealroom enriches

Funding rounds

Valuations

Team & hiring

Investors

Sector & signals

50M+ data points

3

You get back

◈

Live company profiles

☷

Interactive dashboards

❐

Ecosystem reports

★

Founder & investor maps

⇱

Sector insights & trends

What the Platform Delivers

A 360° View on Your Ecosystem

Talent

Headcount & employment

Job openings

Tech stack data

Founder & C-level profiles

Team composition

Innovation

Technology taxonomy

Patents

R&D projects

Startup success rates

Scientific research

Capital

Funding rounds & exits

VC, PE, CVC investors

Stock market data

LPs & family offices

Valuation multiples

Infrastructure

Universities

Accelerators

Grant programs

Coworking spaces

Events

Mapping the Midwest Innovation Ecosystem

If the Midwest were a country, it would be the 4th largest economy in the world

Your Data In. Ecosystem Insights Out.

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