Ohio Startup Fundraising: Q3 2025

Ohio didn’t match the national pace of fundraising this quarter, but it didn’t fade into the background either. The state's startups posted a total of $340m in Q3; a broad-based, regionally diverse quarter where mid-to-late stage rounds did the heavy lifting and Cleveland re-emerged as the headline actor. It was a step down from the summer, yes, but still one of the Midwest’s stronger ledgers in this quarter, and notably close to its ten-year quarterly average.

The shape of the money tells the story.

The five largest rounds accounted for roughly 65% of the state’s total, with 17 Ohio rounds above $1 million (down from 19 last quarter). Three of those top five came from greater Cleveland, a reminder that Ohio’s venture map extends well beyond its capital city.

At the top of the board, Cleveland’s Splash Financial closed “more than $70 million” in Series C financing and rolled out a HELOC product—an archetypal Ohio fintech story: community-lender rails meet modern automation at consumer scale. Investors included Grand Oaks Capital, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Curql Collective, and The O.H.I.O. Fund.

Right behind Splash, medical-device company Neuros Medical in Willoughby raised $56 million (Series D) to scale its chronic-pain therapy platform; Rodatherm in Toledo secured $38 million (Series A) to commercialize energy-systems tech; Cincinnati’s security-software player Pantomath landed $30 million (Series B); and August Health in North Royalton completed a $29 million (Series B) in healthtech. Together, those top five summed to $223 million and comprised a tidy snapshot of Ohio’s sector breadth.

Zoom out and the comps line up with your notes: the quarter came in ~20% below Q2 and ~20% below the same quarter last year. That pullback is real. But context matters. In Q2 2025, Ohio logged $424 million - its best since Q2 2024 - so a lower Q3 still leaves the state on respectable footing year-to-date.

Context matters nationally, too. U.S. venture totals nearly doubled quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year in Q3, propelled by a handful of mega-checks funneled to Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI, with Massachusetts (~$3.7B) and New York (~$8.3B) also spiking—evidence of a top-heavy rebound clustered in a few places. Ohio (like the other Midwest states) didn’t ride that same wave.

What the quarter says about Ohio

1) Cleveland flexed. Three of the top five were Cleveland-area companies with Toledo and Cincinnati rounding out the map. That geographic distribution is healthy: it spreads opportunity and keeps talent anchored across the state.

2) Later-stage credibility is deepening. A Series C and Series D set the tone, Is this is the profile of an ecosystem graduating companies, not just starting them?

3) Diffusion over concentration. Even with one “deal of the quarter,” Ohio’s results weren’t a single-name story. Seventeen $1M+ raises in a down quarter suggest durable mid-market activity that doesn’t depend on one outlier to validate the scoreboard.

4) Resilience amid a skewed national tape. The U.S. rebound is real but heavily concentrated. Ohio’s steadier cadence, even with a 20% dip, feels more like ecosystem construction than casino wins and losses. If Q4 brings one or two strategic later-stage rounds, the state can finish 2025 well and maybe even within touching range of record years.

The take-home

Ohio had reasons to be both sober and optimistic this quarter. Sober, because the totals eased from spring and from last year’s Q3. Optimistic, because the mix looks right: later-stage wins, multiple metros contributing, and sector diversity that matches where Ohio’s durable advantages lie.

And if you’re keeping score at home: this was one of the Midwest’s stronger Q3s even as most states stepped down from Q2. In a year where national headlines fixate on coastal mega-rounds, Ohio’s quieter consistency might just be what actually compounds.

‍