The 2023 Startup City Rankings from Midwest+Startups, a division of the Chicago venture capital firm M25, has been released, analyzing the performance of tech startup ecosystems in the Midwest.
Highlights from 2022-2023 include:
- Chicago: SMS Assist acquired for $950M, LanzaTech raised $500M and IPO’d at a $2B market cap, new firms announced closing $40M+ Fund 1’s.
- Columbus: Branch raised $215M, MentorCliQ $80M, and Heartland Ventures announced a $52M F2.
- Minneapolis: Gravie raised $179M, Flywheel raised $54M, Arthur Ventures announced $470M across two funds.
- Indianapolis: Sanctuary Wealth raised $175M, Scale Computing $55M, two new firms launched.
- Columbia’s EquipmentShare raised $290M, Lincoln’s Spreetail $208M, and Kansas City’s PayIt $90M.
- Ann Arbor’s Arboretum Ventures closed a $268M fund, Plymouth Growth closed a $125M fund.
Major new funds were raised in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Ann Arbor.
Columbia, MO and SSBCIs in the Midwest:
Columbia, MO has announced multiple major financings in the last 12 months, including a $290M Series E for Equipment Share and a $45M Series B for Paytient. Despite raw startup activity lagging behind others in the top 25, local accelerator Scale has been active to boost those stats.
Unfortunately, Missouri has allocated relatively little SSBCI funding to startups and lacks an angel investment tax credit, causing their government programs score to fall short of similar cities.
Midwest Metros Compared to National Peer Cities:
Chicago topped the Midwest rankings with a score of 49.3, and other major Midwest metros included Columbus at #5 (29.0), Bloomington, Indiana at #14 (23.7), Des Moines at #27 (18.1), Ames at #33 (16.3), and Wichita at #29 (17.6). Chicago has seen a slew of major liquidity events and funding rounds, including Kin Insurance’s $109M Series D from Geodesic Capital and Nerdio’s $117M Series B from Updata partners. Columbus boasted the largest fund by AUM (Drive Capital) and saw major funding events such as Forge Biologics ($90M Series C) and MentorCLiQ ($80M funding by PSG). Bloomington, Indiana has the highest number of deals done per VC located there, impressive startup momentum, and best–in–class metrics for Startup Density, Educated Workforce and University ecosystem. Des Moines and Ames both gained ground, and Iowa City had a $75M Series B for Digital Diagnostics led by KKR and Cedar Falls had a $45M Series B for Moov led by Commerce Ventures. Wichita saw the biggest gain of the year, moving up thirteen spots to make the top 30. North Dakota also saw two metros in the top 30, with #22 Fargo (+4, 19.3) and #27 Grand Forks (+5, 18.2).
The rankings take into account factors such as startup activity, access to resources, and the business climate.
The List:
- Chicago
- Minneapolis
- Indianapolis
- Pittsburgh
- Columbus
- Detroit
- St. Louis
- Ann Arborr
- Madison
- Cincinnati
- Kansas City
- Louisville
- Cleveland
- Bloomington
- Milwaukee
- Lafayette, IN
- Lexington, KY
- Omaha, NE
- South Bend, IN
- Lincoln, NE
- Columbia, MO
- Fargo, ND
- Akron, OH
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Champaign, IL
- Grand Forks, ND
- Des Moines, IA
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Wichita, KS
- Lansing, MI
- Dayton, OH
- Traverse City, MI
- Ames, IA
- Evansville, IN
- State College, PA
- Springfield, MO
- Toledo, OH
- Green Bay, WI
- Terrra Hautte, IN
41. (tie) Fox Cities, WI and Athens, OH
43. Manhattan, KS
44 . Iowa City, IA
45. Youngstown, OH
46. Peoria, IL
47. Eau Clairre, WI
48. Bloomington, IL
49. Beloit, WI
50. Bismarck, ND
52. (tie) Cedar Rapids, IA and Bowling Green, KY
53. Flint, MI
54. Erie, PA
55. Rochester, MN
56. La Crosse, WI
57. Topeka, KS
58. St. Cloud, MN
59. Rockford, IL
60. Duluth, MN
61. Springfield, IL
62. Quad Cities, IA
63. Jefferson City, MO
64. Wheeling, WV
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