The StartMidwest “Where Are We?” Survey

Founders, Funders, and Leaders weigh in on the past, present, and future of the ecosystem.

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Everyone has an opinion about, well, pretty much everything these days. 

But the launch of StartMidwest felt like an opportune time to ask some of the people who are actually building the Midwest’s Innovation Ecosystems a few simple questions:

Where are we? And… where are we going?

Here’s what they had to say.

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What’s a challenge that needs more attention to accelerate Midwest innovation?

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Fred Hoch, Founder and General Partner, TechNexus Venture Collaborative:

“First, we need to stop being so humble. Midwestern modesty is admirable, but it’s holding us back. I’m not suggesting we take on the coastal hype machine, but there’s a middle ground between silence and arrogance. We need to get a hell of a lot better at telling people what we’re building and where we’re headed. And when we get there, we should say it plainly: *we did it.* That’s not ego. That’s proof. And it matters when you’re trying to attract talent, customers, or capital.

Second, we need to row in the same direction.

Too often, it feels like every city, every group, every initiative is working in isolation -— or worse, in quiet competition. If we want the Midwest to function as a real innovation ecosystem, we need shared stories, shared wins, and coordinated momentum.”

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Tina Hrabak, Head of Platform at LongJump:

“We need more risk-tolerant, true early-stage capital coming from funds and angels.”

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Belvin Liles, Venture Innovation Associate at ID Ventures:

“More opportunities for entry, we need more shots on goal in the Midwest like our friends on the coasts.”

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Matthew Lewis, VP of Partner Strategy at Greater MSP:

“Too much of the wealth that has accumulated in our communities and institutions through previous eras of industrial growth is largely not invested in creating the disruptive businesses and industries of the future in our own backyards.”

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Landon Campbell, Investor and Chicago GM at Drive Capital:

“Access to information. A lot of people are building great things in silos. We need to make it easier to share insights and lessons learned across the ecosystem.”

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Gregory Grossman, Co-Founder of Cooley Chicago:

“Government buy-in. We still have a lack of tax incentives, subsidies and government-catalyzed programming and partnerships to truly create an innovation engine. In this area, we need much less talk and much more action.”

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Carl Erickson, Founder of Atomic Object:

“A place for the founders of what I’ve started referring to as ‘real businesses’ to gather, network, encourage, and support each other.”

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Jake Budler, VP of Platform for Endeavor:

“On the founder side, we still have a dearth of thinking truly big - and building companies (not products) that can actually achieve immense venture scale. It's the well-built companies that have huge exits that have the real exponential impact on our ecosystems, not the early exits during growth stages. To quote the former CEO of El Toro, Stacy Griggs: "there's a difference between Louisville rich and really rich"

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Who’s an under-the-radar founder more people should know about?

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Fred Hoch:

“Jacob Babcock, founder and CEO of NuCurrent. He’s been building in the wireless power space in Chicago for over a decade. It’s a complex category, and he’s built real traction with major global customers. NuCurrent’s tech is behind some of the most efficient, compact wireless charging systems in the world. Jacob’s stayed focused, grown the business steadily, and kept it rooted here in the Midwest. More people should know what he’s built, and what it took to get there.”

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Tina Hrabak:

“Eric Alvarez of Grapefruit Health is a great example of an under-the-radar founder who has Midwest grit in spades and is building a business solving real, massive problems.”

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Matthew Lewis:

“Ping Yeh is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Vocxi Health… A startup that should be on people’s radar is Niron Magnetics, which is producing rare-earth-free permanent magnets.”

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Landon Campbell:

“Tempus. It’s one of the most important AI and health data companies in the country, and it’s being built right here in Chicago.”

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Gregory Grossman:

“Bella Campise, Aigentless. She left behind her senior year at Northwestern to launch this proptech start-up, which is gaining steam as the Gen Z way to tour and rent properties.”

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Carl Erickson:

 “Ange Kramo, AKO Fiber.”

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Jake Budler:

“Kyle Mohler - Kyle is a wonderful person and the founder of an incredibly innovative and Midwest-applicable company, Insignum Ag. Known as the "purple plant" company, their technology helps farmers identify and treat crop diseases - through edited plant genes that turn colors when they are sick/diseased.

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What are you most excited about in your local startup or innovation ecosystem?

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Tina Hrabak:

“Chicago has a great partnership of folks (VCs, incubators, universities, government, etc.) that are doing everything they can to lift the serious builder in the city.”

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Belvin Liles:

“That we continue to see new events happening in Detroit and that more and more people from across the country are interested in what’s happening here. Some people are even moving”

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Matthew Lewis:

“The spaces where there’s intensive collaboration around problems and opportunities for innovations that matter to people across the entire planet – like feeding the world more sustainably or leveraging advancements in AI to reach more patients with lifesaving cures.”

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Landon Campbell:

“I’m excited about our energy supply chain—specifically how the Midwest is uniquely positioned to help solve America’s growing compute demands with our leadership in nuclear power and data center infrastructure.”

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Gregory Grossman: 

“The collaboration. A recent example... University of Chicago, Northwestern and University of Illinois partnered to bring a couple dozen deep tech start-ups to San Francisco for an investor demo day. Midwest is best when it works together.”

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Manny Larcher, CEO of Colaeb

“I’m excited about the population growth many cities are experiencing, with other leaders moving to the Midwest to participate in the manufacturing, technology, and fashion industries, expansion taking place.”

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Carl Erickson:

“New capital sources for startups that are experimenting with investment instruments that serve a wider variety of businesses than VC can consider.”

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Jake Budler: 

“I am excited for in-person events to grow and improve! I think that great event programming is something that really lagged after covid, but I'm glad to see signs of life and new folks and organizations starting to fill in gaps again.”

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What trends or industries is the Midwest uniquely positioned to lead in?

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Tina Hrabak:

“Quantum in Chicago, logistics, food & restaurant tech, and consumer tech from throughout the Midwest.”

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Belvin Liles:

“Manufacturing, marine tech, sustainability, mobility, healthcare, etc.”

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Matthew Lewis:

“Biomanufacturing. There’s much research showing that more than half the physical inputs to the global economy could be produced biologically, and I think the Midwest is well positioned to thoughtfully scale bioindustrial manufacturing.”

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Landon Campbell:

“Energy, biotech, advanced manufacturing, and logistics. These aren’t new industries, they’re foundational ones.”

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Gregory Grossman: 

“Logistics, fintech and life sciences.”

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Jake Budler: 

“We build, make, fix, and grow things here. That's what we are positioned to innovate and lead in - advanced manufacturing, innovative logistics, the future of agriculture, and technologies that build efficiencies for real-world applications in the sectors.”

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If you could wave a magic wand, what’s one tangible change that the ecosystem needs to make?

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Tina Hrabak:

“Founders need to have a bigger vision behind what they are building... I’ve started asking founders, ‘If everything goes right, in your wildest dreams, what does this become?’”

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‍Matthew Lewis:

“We need to be more obsessed with asking what these builders can do for the broader marketplace and the rest of our communities.”

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Landon Campbell:

“More people talking about the ecosystem. The more we share what’s happening here, the more talent, capital, and belief we’ll attract.”

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Amanda Lewan, Co-Founder of Bamboo:

“I think founders and support orgs would very much appreciate a ‘“more capital’” magic wand. But I also want to strengthen a collaborative statewide ecosystem that’s connected through the right storytelling. Many founders still don’t know about the ecosystem or each other, and it’s vital we continue to build a coalition of founders and friends who support one another on this wild journey we’re all taking.”

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Darel Ross, Director at Start Garden:

“Intentionality. Focusing on finding ways to bring people together to make sure building the kind of ecosystem that we want to build. That and pre-seed capital!”

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Gregory Grossman:

“Convince some funds to launch with a later stage focus... I would love to see a few fund managers shift to a later stage strategy.”

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Carl Erickson:

“More capital and support for non-venture-backable businesses... The state establishing an evergreen, pre-seed stage fund is probably the only way to effect this change.”

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Jake Budler: 

“ We would benefit from making our shit cool. Technology, software, innovation - it's often cutting-edge and changes the landscapes of industries. We need to frame it that way - in how we communicate, market and brand, host events, etc. Why host yet another steak-dinner-with-clients when you can partner with Midwest House on a curated, exclusive, unique experience?”

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**Bonus Thought from Tina Hrabak:**

 “Oh, this is dope. A common piece of feedback I get on Chicago/the Midwest is we need to be louder about our wins and the awesome things going on here. If there's anything we can do to help, LMK.”

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Got a take on the state of Midwest innovation? You can add your thoughts via our feedback form here!

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