Six Midwest startups raised a combined $213.5 million in funding in the first week of November, up to November 7, more than five times last week's $41.2 million. Of the eleven weeks since the end of August, only the week ending September 18th had a total where companies raised more, at $297 million. Two $100 million deals make up 94% of this week's total.
Chicago's Ocient and Columbus-based Erebor Bank led the week with $100 million apiece. Ocient, which builds agentic AI and analytics software for petabyte-scale data, closed a Series C co-led by BOKA Capital and OCA Ventures that takes its total raised to $260 million. Erebor's figure is a commitment rather than a closed round: Japan's SBI Holdings said it will invest $100 million in the bank but didn't say when the investment will complete, just a week after Robinhood's $30 million investment in the Columbus fintech co-founded by Palmer Luckey topped our last roundup.
Chicago accounts for four of the week's deals. Flow Medical, a University of Chicago spinout developing a catheter-based treatment for pulmonary embolism, raised $6 million, and consumer insights company QualSights took $5 million led by Duo Partners as it also named Prasanna Pitale chief executive. CareLumi, which checks the work done by AI and automated systems inside healthcare organizations, starting with provider credentialing and payer enrollment, closed an oversubscribed $2.5 million pre-seed round led by Izou Partners, with Fifth Star Funds and Chicago Early Growth Ventures among the participants. Minneapolis homeownership company Duome rounded out the week with an an undisclosed investment from Great Lakes Credit Union, as it brings its program to the Chicago area.
Here are all 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 November 6th, 2026.
As always, every company and investor below can also be found in our startups and investors database.
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
Ocient
Business Type: Artificial Intelligence
Amount Raised/stage: $100m Series C co-led by BOKA Capital and OCA Ventures
What they do:
Delivers agentic AI and analytics that run directly on governed, petabyte-scale data in one engine; the funding accelerates delivery to enterprise, defense and critical-infrastructure customers.
Erebor Bank
Business Type: Fintech
Amount Raised/stage: $100m planned investment from SBI Holdings (announced, not yet closed)
What they do:
Runs a nationally chartered digital bank for defense, AI, energy, robotics and advanced-manufacturing companies, supporting stablecoin deposits and round-the-clock blockchain settlement; deposits topped $7 billion.
Flow Medical
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Business Type: Healthtech
Amount Raised/stage: $6m round with two strategic medtech investors and UCM Ventures
What they do:
Develops a catheter-directed thrombolysis system for pulmonary embolism; the funding covers first-in-human evaluation, product development, manufacturing and preparation for a U.S. pivotal study.
QualSights
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Business Type: Artificial Intelligence
Amount Raised/stage: $5m financing led by Duo Partners
What they do:
Uses smart sensors, a consumer app and AI analytics to measure how people actually use physical products, helping brands improve products; financing accompanies a new CEO appointment.
CareLumi
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Business Type: Healthtech
Amount Raised/stage: $2.5m pre-seed led by Izou Partners
What they do:
Audits the AI, automated workflows and software healthcare organizations use, logging and checking actions to flag errors; starting with provider credentialing and payer enrollment.
Duome
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Business Type: Fintech
Amount Raised/stage: Undisclosed investment from Great Lakes Credit Union
What they do:
Co-invests in homes alongside qualified buyers through credit unions, shrinking mortgages to affordable sizes; a credit union investment starts bringing the program to Chicago-area members.
Want to know more?
Read the latest quarterly funding reports for the region and each state here:
Midwest startup funding - Q3 2026
Illinois startup funding - Q3 2026
Indiana startup funding - Q3 2026
Ohio startup funding - Q3 2026
Michigan startup funding - Q3 2026
Minnesota startup funding - Q3 2026
Wisconsin startup funding - Q3 2026
Missed last week? Read Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending October 30, 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
