At least 125 Ohio communities now have data center moratoriums. While Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota towns are rewriting zoning rules to keep up with the boom.

Midwest investors in Minnesota and Ann Arbor say capital isn't the bottleneck. Allocation, talent, and corporate adoption are the harder problems to solve.

Dealroom data shows 115 Midwest unicorns across twelve states. Half never crossed $1B in a private round — and companies like Epic Systems don’t appear at all.