Midwest startups intensify… 📊

⏰ Midwest Minute 

Upsets, close calls and a few cities proving last year wasn’t a fluke—the 2026 Midwest Madness tournament is officially underway. In the Round of 64, #15 Manhattan, KS nearly pulled off the upset of #2 Peoria, fresh off its Great Midwest Eight run last year. #8 Pittsburgh is giving last year’s champion, #1 Omaha, a tighter-than-expected matchup. Minnesota is making a strong showing across the board with #12 St. Cloud, #3 Minneapolis and #15 Rochester all still alive at the time of publication. #1 Fargo is eyeing its third Championship appearance and first title, and #5 Sioux Falls is looking to follow its northern neighbor with a deep run of its own. The Flyover 16 tips off tomorrow, and if the first and second rounds are any indication, this year’s bracket is wide open. Get your votes in!

A few headlines worth watching this week: Chicago-based Relatively filing for an IPO signals continued momentum for Midwest companies eyeing the public markets, while NoTraffic’s $90M Series C out of Overland Park stands out as one of the region’s largest recent raises, pushing smart infrastructure further into the spotlight. In Chicago, GeoWealth announced a $42.5M Series C extension backed by Goldman Sachs following their $38M announcement last August. Motivate Ventures is gearing up to fundraise Fund III and Redbud VC announced their $25M Fund II. Outside the Midwest, a proposed bipartisan bill targeting platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket could reshape parts of the betting landscape, while comments from Bill Gurley hint at a broader reset in the AI market. More on these and the rest of the notable news below.

Have any insights into the Midwest ecosystem or a funding announcement to share? Want to share your pick for this year’s Midwest Madness Champ? Send us an email: [email protected] 

📰 Notable News

Exits

• Chicago-based Relatively filed for IPO 

Startup Funding

• NoTraffic - $90M Series C led by PSG Equity | Overland Park

• GeoWealth - $42.5M Series C from Goldman Sachs | Chicago

• Monteris Medical - $28M Series E co-led by InnovaHealth Partners and Birchview Capital | Minnetonka, MN

• Definity - $7M round led by Accrete Health Partners | Cincinnati

• Clementine’s Ice Cream - $6M Seed led by Next Phase Capital | St. Louis

• HeartIO - $4.25M Seed from Bessel, VU, Intelligence, Audacious and LifeX | Pittsburgh

• Eileen - $1M Pre-Seed led by Top Shelf Ventures | Pittsburgh

• Impower Health - $500K Pre-Seed led by Boomerang Ventures | Omaha

• Voyager AI - $500K Pre-Seed led by Mastercraft Ventures | Milwaukee

VC Funds

• Motivate Ventures - Raising a $100M FIII | Chicago

• Redbud VC - $25M FII | Columbia, MO

Other News

• Bipartisan bill seeks to ban sports betting on Kalshi and Polymarket

• Uber taps Rivian to build robotaxis in deal worth up to $1.25B

• Bill Gurley on AI bubble: A bunch of people got rich quick and a reset is coming

• OpenAI to cut back on side projects to focus on core business, WSJ reports

• California Suspends Implementation and Enforcement of Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Act Pending Rulemaking Process

• The Vertical Report 2026 — Preview

• Meta is cutting several hundred jobs

Have exciting news to share? If you're announcing a funding round, exit or other milestone, send your press release to [email protected] to be featured. While we can’t share everything, we love to feature great stories from across the region.

📆 Mark your Calendar

Need to fill your social calendar? We’ve scoured newsletters, scanned LinkedIn and found some of the latest tech + startup events in the region. Know of any upcoming events and want to share them in our next newsletter? Send us an email: [email protected]