Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending August 14, 2026

Minnesota and Wisconsin split the honors this week: a nine-figure commitment for rare-earth-free magnets in Minneapolis, a healthy growth round for Madison proptech, and embedded insurance out of the Twin Cities to round things out.

Not a bad haul for the second week of August.

Here are the Midwest investments from across the great states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin that we've been able to track and verify this week, ending August 14th, 2026.

While you're here: If you'd like to make sure you're notified about any funds raised from the six states we cover, then make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter

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Niron Magnetics

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Business Type: Manufacturing

Amount Raised/stage: Conditional $150m Department of War commitment

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What they do:

Develops and manufactures rare‑earth‑free Iron Nitride permanent magnets, enabling high‑performance, domestically produced magnetic solutions for defense, AI, automotive, industrial automation, and energy applications. We covered Niron earlier this year when it broke ground on its new facility.

Read more here.

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ApartmentIQ

Location: Madison, Wisconsin

Business Type: Artificial Intelligence

Amount Raised/stage: $25m

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What they do:

Provides real‑time market intelligence, AI‑driven revenue management, and automated marketing tools for multifamily operators, enabling data‑based pricing, predictive decisions, and streamlined property marketing.

Read more here.

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Vertical Insure

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Business Type: Fintech

Amount Raised/stage: Undisclosed (investment from Updata Partners)

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What they do:

Provides embedded insurance solutions for vertical SaaS platforms, integrating customizable coverage directly into user workflows at checkout, billing, and registration to turn risk moments into seamless protection.

Read more here.

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Want to know more?

Read the latest quarterly funding reports for each state here:

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Illinois startup funding - Q2 2026

Indiana startup funding - Q2 2026

Ohio startup funding - Q2 2026

Michigan startup funding - Q2 2026

Minnesota startup funding - Q2 2026

Wisconsin startup funding - Q2 2026

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While you're here: If you'd like to make sure you're notified about any funds raised from the six states we cover, then make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter

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