Midwest startup funding this week: Jump Capital's $350M Fund 8, Claros Technologies' $55M raise, plus deals from Healia, BrandRank.AI and Gravie.

Six Midwest startups raised funding in the week ending July 24, across Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, led by Empirical Security's $25M in Chicago. (Dontree_M / shutterstock - altered by AI)

Voxel51's Brian Moore is building the Databricks of physical AI from Columbus, Ohio. How an open-source project became a $50M-backed infrastructure company.

Electric Outdoors founder Josef Hjelmaker built an off-grid energy startup in Michigan that raised $3M after a 24-year corporate career at Whirlpool and Thor Industries.

PitchMI opens applications for its 2026-27 Michigan startup competition with $2M across four semifinals. What the first year produced, and why year three isn't funded.

German entrepreneurs from North Rhine-Westphalia toured Detroit, Lansing, and Chicago this week; an industrial past and startup scene that mirror the Midwest.

As GM runs 50 'cobots 'at its Detroit EV plant, Chicago's Automate 2026 previews the humanoid robots and AI heading for Midwest factory floors.

From Saline Township's contested Barn campus to tax-credit pauses in Ohio and Illinois, Midwest states are considering data center deals they once chased.

The Secret Founder on what's really holding back Midwest startups: fake pre-seed funds, messy angel terms, slow no's — and how to fix the system, fast.

Indiana startups raised just $33.1 million in Q2 2026, the lowest quarter since 2018. Drew Beechler of Alloy Partners asks if the state is being left behind.