Startup City Rankings
Every year, we dive into the data to provide an analytical, objective benchmark to help startup stakeholders from founders and VCs to community champions and elected officials understand how cities within the Midwest are performing relative to each other in their tech startup ecosystems.
2022 - 2023 Highlights
- Chicago: SMS Assist acquired for $950M, LanzaTech raised $500M and IPO’d at a $2B market cap, and new firms announced closing $40M+ Fund 1’s including: Buoyant, Energy, and 81 Collection
- Columbus: Branch raised $215M, MentorCliQ $80M, and Heartland Ventures announced a $52M F2
- Minneapolis: Gravie raised $179M and Flywheel raised $54M. Arthur Ventures announced $470M across two funds, and Jamf Ventures $50M Fund 1
- Indianapolis: Sanctuary Wealth raised $175M, Scale Computing $55M, Authenticx $20M, and two new firms launched: Ground Game and Ivy Ventures
- Throughout the Midwest: Kansas City's Rx Savings Solutions acquired for up to $850M, Columbia’s EquipmentShare raised $290M, Lincoln’s Spreetail $208M, and Kansas City’s PayIt $90M. Ann Arbor’s Arboretum Ventures closed a $268M fund, and Plymouth Growth closed a $125M fund
National Peer Rankings: Major Metros
This year we took on the challenge of comparing the Midwest's largest metros with peer cities nationally. Check out how the top Midwest cities compared to LA, Austin and more below.
Explore the Cities
How Rankings are Calculated
Data is through 6/30/23
Startup Activity
43.5% Weight
A measure of how active and vibrant the startup community in each city is. Factors included are how many active startups are in the CBSA, the growth in startup formation over the last 5 years, the number of exits, and the scale of large outcomes in the last 10 years - exits and fundraises of $50M and higher.
Source: PitchbookAccess To Resources
39% Weight
A measure of how supportive the city's ecosystem is and resources available to help startups grow. This includes how much each Metro has raised from VCs, the number of local investors, incubators/accelerators, universities, and government support.
Source: the US Census, US Patent & Trademark Office, Fortune.com, Pitchbook, US News & World Report, The Global Accelerator Network, US Small Business Administration and individual state websites.Business Climate
17.5% Weight
A measure of how conducive the city's economic environment is to attract and scale a business. It includes demographic and economic factors such as the cost of living, labor costs, business tax friendliness, and population and GDP per capita. As well as ‘connectivity’ indicators like nearness to an airport, number of non-stop flights, highway infrastructure, and quality of internet access.
Source: the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the US Census, the Tax Foundation, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and Google Flights.