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Illinois Startups: Funding, Investors & Startup News

Illinois startup news, funding rounds, and ecosystem coverage — from Chicago's fintech and quantum hubs to statewide innovation and venture capital activity.

Illinois Startups: Funding, Investors & Startup News

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending September 11 2026

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending September 11, 2026

(Almost) Nobody Is Going to Tell You No: How to Translate a VC Pass

(Almost) Nobody Is Going to Tell You No: How to Translate a VC Pass

Andressen Horowitz 1 billion hardware fund is the Midwest as equity partner or tenant

Andressen Horowitz’s $1.1 billion hardware fund: is the Midwest equity partner, or tenant?

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending September 4 2026

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending September 4, 2026

Building the plane while it is taking off

Before You Fundraise, Make Sure Your Company Is Real

Can we Measure Midwest Grit?

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending August 28, 2026

Man in mid air with basketball for Vote in the 2026 Startup Benchmarks Survey

Vote in the 2026 Startup Benchmarks Survey

StartMidwest Founder Story on Tim Huelskamp of 1440 in Chicago

Founder Stories: Tim Huelskamp of 1440 - newsletters for the insatiably curious

The Midwest College Rankings 2026

Midwest Startup Funding to August 21 2026

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending August 21, 2026

A Rocket for the Inc 5000 fastest growing companies

26 Midwest Companies in Top 250 of the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing 2026

The Secret VC: Midwest Corporate Venture Is Just Private Equity in a Trench Coat

The Secret VC: Midwest Corporate Venture Is Just Private Equity in a Trench Coat

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending August 14 2026

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending August 14, 2026

How Midwest builders manage pressure by Aria Spears of Michigan Founders Fund

The Weight Founders Carry: How Midwest Builders Manage Pressure

Pigs might fly but the dollars in Midwest startup funding were strong

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending August 7, 2026

Corporate Venture Is the Midwest's Home-Field Advantage - Don't Let It Go Dormant

The Secret Founder: Belief isn't the bottleneck, execution is.

The Secret Founder: Belief isn't the bottleneck, execution is.

Piggy on a bath - Midwest Startup funding for week ending July 31 2026

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending July 31 2026

The infrastructure advantage by Ruby Miller build the shovel not just the goldmine

The infrastructure advantage: build the shovel, not just the goldmine

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending July 24 2025

Midwest Startup Funding for the week ending July 24 2025

Illinois Governor Pritzker at the Global Quantum Forum in Chicago

UChicago-led Bloch Quantum Tech Hub raises $55 million for domestic supply chain

German American Chamber of Commerce visits the Midwest from North Rhine Westphalia Midwest

Is this German region a mirror image of the Midwest?

StartMidwest what you should pay attention to at TechChicago Week from four local experts

TechChicago Week: Your Guide from those in the know.

StartMidwest Startup Funding Q2 2026

Midwest Startup Funding Q2 2026: $1.27 billion across 114 deals

StartMidwest the Midwest Dairy Accelerator in Chicago has chosen six startups for latest cohort

Midwest Dairy Accelerator presents six startups for 2026 cohort

Illinois leads the Midwest in deal volume in Q2 2026.

StartMidwest - Store Front in Middle America during the SaaSpocalypse

The Myth of the SaaSpocalypse

StartMidwest Phase3d raises 2-9m in Chicago

Chicago's Phase3D raises $2.9M for additive manufacturing inspection tech

StartMidwest Mondelez announces nine startups for CoLab 20206

Mondelēz selects nine startups for CoLab Tech 2026 accelerator

StartMidwest Syntax Bio Raises 14-4 million

Chicago's Syntax Bio expands Series A to $14.4 million, adds new leadership

StartMidwest Automate Chicago 2026 Humanoid Robot forum

As GM swaps workers for robots in Detroit, Chicago's Automate show previews what's next

The Secret VC: Everyone wants to ‘invest’, no one wants to lead.

Chicago’s Vinyl Equity raises $20M Series A led by Jump Capital

Chicago’s Honeycomb Insurance raises $40M for AI-driven property underwriting

StartMidwest - states across the Midwest are considering what to do about data centers

Midwest states courted data centers for years. Now some are asking who pays.

StartMidwest - Chicago Investors if they were star signs

Forget AUM. What's Their Star Sign?

StartMidwest Mollie Kuramoto High Alpha dangers of a broad ICP for early stage startups

Why Midwest Founders Cannot Afford Broad ICPs

StartMidwest Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026 Lincoln Nebraska

Where Midwest startup hubs rank in Dealroom's 2026 Global Tech Ecosystem Index

Chicago-based sponsorship intelligence platform Trajektory announces $8 million funding round

Trajektory Raises $8M in Chicago for Sponsorship Intelligence Platform

StartMidwest Benji universal API for loyalty raises 6 million in seed funding

Benji raises $6.25M for loyalty product; three Midwest funds invest

The SBA's Patriot Pitch Competition opens applications through June 10, offering a $1M prize pool funded by Clover for SBA-backed small businesses.

SBA $1M Patriot Pitch Competition for 250th anniversary celebrations

The Secret Founder why does Midwest fundraising feel like applying for a job

The Secret Founder: Why does Midwest fundraising feel like applying for a job?

S2G Investments managing partners — the Chicago-based firm closed its $1 billion Solutions Fund I for growth-stage food, energy, and ocean companies.

Chicago’s S2G Investments Closes $1 Billion Solutions Fund I

Front page of the 2026 State of Talent Access & Hiring Report, a Midwest startup hiring survey by StartMidwest, Digital Reference, and Purpose Jobs.

The State of Talent Access & Hiring Report 2026: What the data tells us.

Red Bull Basement World Final decided after Detroit pitch event

Chicago’s definity Unveils Agentic Data Engineering Platform with $12M Series A

StartMidwest Secret VC Funds are the entry fee of venture capital

The Secret VC: Funds are the entry fee of Venture Capital. The Real Value is Reputation.

The Operator Gap: What Midwest Startups Are Missing, and What We Can Do About It

StartMidwest Polsky Center Third Coast Foundry Microsoft and Nvidia Partnership

University of Chicago partners with Microsoft and Nvidia to support Midwest AI startups

StartMidwest - Fundraising Q1 2026

Midwest startup funding Q1 2026: a record US quarter, but Midwest share shrinks

StartMidwest - VC Advice whether to raise funds or not - Allie Singer

A Midwest VC’s Guide: To raise or not, tis the question

Most University Innovations Aren’t Meant to Be Startups

The 2026 ‘State of Midwest Innovation Ecosystem’ report with Dealroom

StartMidwest Madison Air IPO

Chicago’s Madison Air files for IPO in potentially largest US industrial debut since 1999

StartMidwest - Sebastian Penix - Where is the Innovation Capital

Are We Evaluating Our Ecosystems? Or Just Counting Money?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained: the community-led bet on Chicago's next generation of investors.

Corn Rocket - StartMidwest - Inc Fastest Growing Companies Midwest

What Inc.’s fastest-growing Midwest companies list says about growth

StartMidwest - High Alpha - Midwest Founders Take Longer to Raise

Midwest Founders Raise Just as Well — But It Costs More to Get There

StartMidwest - MidwestHouse Pitch Competition

The invisible work powering SXSW: A first-timer’s perspective

StartMidwest - Simplify Ventures

Simplify Group Launches Simplify Ventures in Illinois

StartMidwest - geowealth 42.5m Fundraise

Chicago’s GeoWealth Extends Series C With $42.5 Million Strategic Investment

StartMidwest - Moneyball in Minnesota by Ellie Piggott of Traction capital

Is Minnesota Primed for Moneyball Investing?

StartMidwest - SecretVC - Stop Celebrating Mediocrity

The Secret VC: Midwest Investors, stop celebrating mediocrity

StartMidwest - 1871 Chicago - Old Chicago Stock Exchange Building

BMO and 1871 open applications for WMNfintech in Chicago

StartMidwest ‘Significant moment’ for Midwest Innovation Ecosystem as Research Universities Open SF Outpost. Third Coast Foundry

‘Significant moment’ for Midwest Innovation Ecosystem as Research Universities Open SF Outpost.

StartMidwest Do Midwest Ecosystems have an Identity Problem?

Do Midwest Ecosystems have an Identity Problem?

StartMidwest - Straylight Capital - Michelle Erickson - the case for tech enabled services

Human-Powered Trust is the Real Moat: A Case for Tech-Enabled Services

StartMidwest - Uber acquires Chicago company Spot Hero

Uber to add parking with acquisition Of Chicago’s SpotHero

StartMidwest Letter AI Raises $40M Series B

Letter AI Raises $40M Series B

StartMidwest Founder Stories: Justin Turk of ConStrat AI

Founder Stories: Justin Turk of ConStrat AI

StartMidwest author Terry Howerton of TechNexus in Chicago suggests Where the Midwest Should Replicate Silicon Valley

Where the Midwest Should Replicate Silicon Valley

StartMidwest - Newity raises 11m

Chicago’s NEWITY raises $11M: tying AI underwriting to blockchain capital

Midwest Moxie: Using sound waves to evaporate tumors - Histosonics

Where Is the Innovation Capital? Midwest Investors Must Catch Up to Their Founders

John Deere announces new cohort of 2026 startup collaborators

The Secret VC The Secret VC: Exit Math Is Destiny - Midwest Funds and Mega Funds are playing different games

The Secret VC: Exit Math Is Destiny - Midwest Funds and Mega Funds are playing different games

Future in the Making: How AI is changing Manufacturing

StartMidwest Go Brewing Lands New Investment to Fuel Next Phase of Growth

Go Brewing Lands New Investment to Fuel Next Phase of Growth

StartMidwest - Fintech - Kairos raises 2.5m

Chicago prediction market startup Kairos raises $2.5M led by a16z Crypto

Why More Midwest SaaS Companies Should Embrace Design Earlier

Chicago’s When raises $10.2M to expand health coverage platform

StartMidwest author Sebastian Penix talks about The Capital Delusion: Why Founders at Every Level Get Funding Wrong

The Capital Delusion: Why Founders at Every Level Get Funding Wrong

StartMidwest Midwest Moxie with Kathleen Gallagher How Eichrom Technologies is fueling nuclear medicine

Midwest Moxie: Fueled by nuclear

StartMidwest author Caroline Wolanin of Straylight Capital asks Should Founders Talk to Junior VCs? The Advice Is Right — and Also Wrong

Should Founders Talk to Junior VCs? The Advice Is Right — and Also Wrong

StartMidwest asks if The Midwest: the new Data-Center Heartland of America?

The Midwest: the new Data-Center Heartland of America?

StartMidwest CES 2026: the future of tech is now physical, industrial, and operational

CES 2026: the future of tech is now physical, industrial, and operational

StartMidwest The Secret VC: Stop Asking "Who Else Is In?”

The Secret VC: Stop Asking "Who Else Is In?”

StartMidwest Architect Financial Technologies raises $35 million Series A

Architect Financial Technologies raises $35 million Series A

The Boomerang VC: Ilana Habib on Midwest Grit, Patient Capital, and Building Bigger in Ohio

StartMidwest Midwest funding for Q4 2025

Midwest funding for Q4 2025

StartMidwest The Secret Founder: Hey Midwest VCs, please stop cosplaying Silicon Valley

The Secret Founder: Hey Midwest VCs, please stop cosplaying Silicon Valley

Midwest Startup investment was poor in 2025. Where to in 2026?

Illinois Startup News 2025: Year In Review

StartMidwest 2025 Midwest startup funding: Year in Review.

2025 Midwest startup funding: Year in Review.

StartMidwest Midwest Startup Founder Stories: Year in Review 2025

Midwest Startup Founder Stories: Year in Review 2025

StartMidwest The Cap Table for Founders: Guide to Equity, Control & Capital

The Cap Table for Founders: Guide to Equity, Control & Capital

StartMidwest How should leaders manage an accusation of inappropriate behavior?

How should leaders manage an accusation of inappropriate behavior?

StartMidwest author Mollie Kuramoto says Midwest Nice Isn’t a Bad Thing. But It’s Also Not Enough.

Midwest Nice Isn’t a Bad Thing. But It’s Also Not Enough.

StartMidwest John Deere Introduces Electric Mower with Removable EGO Batteries

John Deere Introduces Electric Mower with Removable EGO Batteries