Midwest Startups Newsletter - Bat Edition 🦇

Your twice monthly roundup of the latest startup and VC news from across the Midwest

Midwest Startups after Dark 👀🌌 

Tim Burton Art GIF by hoppip

Midwest Minute 

The Midwest has a surprisingly spooky side, filled with eerie traditions, local legends and bat-filled skies that come alive in the fall. The region is home to a variety of bat species, including the little brown bat, Indiana bat and big brown bat, all of which help control insect populations. The endangered Indiana bat, in particular, hibernates in caves across southern Indiana and other parts of the region during winter. Bats' use of echolocation to hunt has even inspired innovations in sonar and drone technology. The Midwest also has a long literary legacy of spooky storytelling, with famed author Ray Bradbury, who wrote Something Wicked This Way Comes, hailing from Waukegan, Illinois. Washington Irving, author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, has a connection to Irvington, Indiana, which hosts an annual spooky festival complete with ghost tours and haunted houses and is home to the Black Hats Society. This rich blend of bat-related lore and eerie local traditions is a core part of Midwest Halloween culture, with many historic (and possibly haunted) buildings repurposed as coworking spaces and startup hubs, seamlessly blending spooky history with modern innovation. Take the H. Alden Smith mansion in Minneapolis for example—the historic building that was originally built in 1887 is now an apartment complex.

Halloween traditions run deep across the region, from pumpkin patches to corn mazes, many of which now incorporate technology like GPS and drones to create elaborate designs. Morton, Illinois, known as the "Pumpkin Capital of the World," produces most of the nation’s canned pumpkin and hosts an annual Pumpkin Festival. Haunted landmarks like Ohio's haunted reformatory and Wisconsin's Bray Road continue to attract tourists every year. Additionally, modern startups are drawing inspiration from nature, including bats' energy-efficient flight, to drive sustainability, while ghost kitchens and other innovations are reshaping the food industry across the region.

Sneaking our way into the latest funding announcements… Chicago’s Tock, previously acquired by Squarespace, was bought by American Express for an undisclosed amount. Columbus-based Path Robotics raised a $100M round. ShiraTronics out of Minneapolis announced a $66M round. More of the latest below.

Have any insights into the Midwest ecosystem or a funding announcement to share? Want to share a Halloween fun fact? Send us an email: [email protected] 

📰 Notable News

Exits

Startup Funding

  • Path Robotics - $100M round co-led by Drive Capital and Matter Venture Partners | Columbus

  • ShiraTronics - $66M Series B led by Norwest Venture Partners | Minneapolis

  • Rivermark Medical - $30M Series C led by American Century Investments | Milwaukee

  • Capacity - $26M Series D from investors like TVC Capital and Toloka | St. Louis

  • Bitnomial - $25M Series C led by Ripple | Chicago

  • Logik.io - $25M Series B from investors like Emergence Capital, High Alpha and Permanent Capital Partners | Deerfield, IL

  • C2N Diagnostics - $22M round from investors | St. Louis

  • BizzyCar - $15M round led by Dealer Tire | St. Louis

  • Crafty - $10M round from JLL Spark | Chicago

  • Cannect Wellness - $7M round from investors | Chicago

  • In Bold Print - $1M Pre-Seed led by VC 414 | Chicago

VC Funds

Other News

📆 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? Send us an email: [email protected] 

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