Opinion
September 30, 2026
The Midwest has plenty of startup events. Holden Price says that founders need clear-door communities built around a shared stage, customer, problem, or experience.
September 28, 2026
Ohio's history of infrastructure, from rail to CompuServe to data centers, is actually a 150-year compute stack. Jace Martin argues Ohio startups should build on and own that history.
Technology
September 26, 2026
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.
Ecosystem
UnDemo Day 2026 drew a record 850 registrations to Detroit, Michigan, alongside Venture Forward's emerging manager program and PitchMI's final semifinal.
By
Phil Vella
•
October 23, 2026
Illinois startups raised $431.4 million across 27 deals in Q3 2026, the most rounds in the Midwest, led by CADDi's $114 million Series D and no dominant check.
Wisconsin startups raised $37.8 million across 8 deals in Q3 2026, up 89% on Q2 on a venture basis. Rentable's $25 million Madison round is two-thirds of it.
Michigan's water-tech startups, from Ann Arbor to Detroit, are drawing new Great Lakes programs and funding. Four ways founders and operators can get involved.
Smaller communities in the nation’s heartland are emerging as an overlooked growth engine: manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and logistics opportunities are already taking shape.
Agricultural AI is helping Midwest farmers manage weather and costs, with startups in Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois building the tools.
Oracle plans to draw 125 to 250 MW from the Point Beach nuclear plant for its AI data center in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Ratepayers are asking who pays.
Erin Wall of Minneapolis-based Lunr Capital on funding consumer brands before the purchase order, and why Minnesota's corporate giants need to move faster.
START UP Season 14 spotlights 13 entrepreneurs from Columbus, Chicago and across Ohio and Illinois, premiering October 4 on WORLD Channel and PBS.
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September 9, 2026
People
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