Mapping the Midwest Innovation Ecosystem
March 2026
Innovation Waves
The US has been the clear winner in major tech waves over the
last 50 years
Market Context
Tech vs. Non-Tech: Earnings Power Continues to Bifurcate
Global Perspective
A Dramatic Shift in the Center of Gravity
Productivity
San Francisco productivity is
1.8× that of Manhattan
Economic Scale
If the Midwest were a country, it would be the 4th largest economy in the world
Global Benchmark
Midwest ranks #12 globally by $1B+ output relative to GDP
The Opportunity
The Midwest generates ~16% of U.S. GDP
but captures just ~3–5% of venture capital
but captures just ~3–5% of venture capital
One of the largest capital allocation gaps in the U.S.
economy
Company Funnel
Midwest Startup Pipeline
10K+
Startups
<$15M funding
1,302
Breakouts
$15–$100M
304
Scaleups
$100M+ funding
99
$1B+ companies
$1–$10B valuation
9
$10B+ companies
$10–$100B valuation
Combined Enterprise Value
Midwest startup value has grown 3.8× in a decade
▲
14% CAGR
$174B
2016
$660B
2026
$1B+ Company Tracker
Cumulative $1B+ companies+ in the Midwest
Regional Comparison
Midwest EV: Room to Grow
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
Regional Comparison
Enterprise Value by US Region
Funding Progression
Graduation Rates by Region
% of startups that advance to the next funding stage
Outcome Rates
From Funded to Breakout Outcomes
% of funded startups reaching milestone stages
Midwest by Sector
| Sector | Startups | Breakouts | Scale-ups | $1B+ companies | $10B+ companies | 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
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
+419%
$68.0M
Space
+308%
$31.0M
AI
+121%
76 rounds
Robotics
+71%
$203.4M
Defence
New
$69.8M raised
Energy
+12%
$433.5M
State-Level Breakdown
Illinois Leads, Ohio & Michigan Growing Fastest
National Benchmark
Chicago is Hitting its Stride
Building Momentum
$1K-$2K
Hitting Stride
$2K-$5K
Breakout
$5K-$10K
Powerhouse
$10K+
Regional Ecosystems
Midwest Startup Ecosystems
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
1
Knowledge & Talent
Research Universities
Commercialization
Infrastructure
Research Strengths
2
Company Formation
Accelerators & Incubators
Innovation Districts
Founder Support
Programs
3
Capital Stack
Angels
Pre-Seed & Seed
Series A+ / Multi-Stage
Public / Non-Dilutive
Federal
4
Scale-Up Infra
State Programs
Ecosystem Connectors
Corporate & Market Access
Industry Channels
Talent Pipeline
Where Midwest $1B+ Founders Worked Before
▲ BIG TECH ALUMNI
Microsoft
45
Google
39
Apple
24
Salesforce
19
Amazon
14
SAP
10
PayPal
8
Uber
8
LinkedIn
8
Meta 5 · Tesla 5 · Yahoo 5 · X 5
▼ 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
Founder Networks
Midwest Startup Mafias
Founder Networks
The Groupon Mafia
Chronosphere
$3.4B
Linear
$1.3B
Kite
$1.2B
Jüsto
$760M
Pinwheel
$500M
Topsort
$150M
Metafy
$150M
Turquoise Health
$240M
The Yes
$180M
Utmost
$126M
Dover
$120M
Rainbow
$108M
Larridin
$102M
Wonder B.
$100M
Spec
$90M
Meru
$90M
Cruisebound
$78M
DigiSure
$79M
+many more
JOKR
$800M
Moss
$550M
Patient21
$420M
Vedrai
$264M
PSQUARED
$220M
GIGA GREEN
$185M
Packmatic
$99M
Lano
$99M
Bioniq $82M · Ravio $72M · +more
Aspire
$500M
edamama $100M · Karbon C. $90M · +more
South America
several startups
Other
100+ companies · $15B+ combined value · 6 continents
Talent & Diversity
Origin of $1B+ Company Founders
🇺🇸 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 $1B+ Company Founders Studied
🇺🇸 Michigan
13
🇺🇸 Harvard
11
🇺🇸 Stanford
10
🇺🇸 Northwestern
9
🇬🇧 Oxford
3
🇬🇧 Cambridge
2
🇨🇭 ETH · 🇫🇷 INSEAD · 🇬🇧 London · 🇳🇱 Amsterdam · +38 more
🇺🇸 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
🇺🇸 Columbia
4
🇮🇳 IIT · 🇮🇳 Birla · 🇸🇬 NUS · +25 more
🇺🇸 Indiana
4
🇺🇸 UCLA
3
🇺🇸 DePaul
3
🇺🇸 Purdue
3
+200 more universities
🇦🇺 Oceania · 5
🇧🇷 S. America · 3
🇺🇸 Indiana 4 · 🇺🇸 Iowa State 4 · 🇺🇸 DePaul 3 · 🇮🇱 Technion 2 ·
🇰🇷 KAIST 2 · 🇩🇪 TU Munich 2 · 🇫🇷 HEC Paris 2 · +220 more from
40+ countries
Capital & Investors
Top 50 Investors by $1B+ Company Coverage
Cumulative $1B+ Company Coverage — Top 50
Capital & Investors
Top Investors — $1B+ & $10B+ Companies
$1B+ companies
$10B+ companies
NEA
10
$20.3B
Insight Partners
9
1
$35.0B
Tiger Global
8
$19.1B
Silicon Valley Bank
7
1
$19.1B
TCV
7
$9.3B
Lightbank
6
$15.5B
Goldman Sachs
6
$11.6B
General Atlantic
5
2
$27.9B
SoftBank
5
$8.3B
Pritzker Group VC
5
$12.1B
Hyde Park VP
5
$4.1B
Vision Fund
5
$7.2B
Battery Ventures
4
$9.0B
Chicago Ventures
4
$6.9B
AI Talent
Where AI Talent Sits in Chicago
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
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
The Midwest is no longer emerging.
It has arrived.
It has arrived.
$300B+ in enterprise value. 40+ unicorns. World-class talent
from 150+ universities. The only thing missing? The capital to
match the opportunity.