The World Cup has arrived on American soil. Millions of international visitors have flooded host cities and for the Europeans among them, the cultural highlights have been less about the beautiful game and more about the beautiful chaos of ordinary American life. While Missouri is the only Midwest state hosting games, it’s turning Kansas City into a tourist hub. A German fan on X has become something of a folk hero, going viral for documenting his stateside expedition with the tone of a man who genuinely cannot believe that a gas station could be 74,000 square feet (hi, Buc-ee’s) or that Taco Bell is someone’s sincere dining recommendation. His posts, equal parts delighted and bewildered, have racked up millions of views because apparently all it takes is a foreigner treating places in rural America like undiscovered territory to remind us that yeah, this place is a little surreal. Meanwhile, FIFA’s rulebook has created its own subplot: no commercial naming rights on stadium signage during matches, meaning venues nationwide have had to cover or tape over sponsor logos—even condiment logos have to be covered. Levi’s Stadium leaned in, posting a tongue-in-cheek “nobody’s gonna know” video that instantly turned a compliance headache into the best earned media of their year. Keep up on the latest World Cup news here.

In the Midwest, the real action has always been off the pitch… here’s the latest funding announcements. Detroit's Stepful closed a $55M Series C led by Oak HC/FT to scale its AI-powered healthcare training platform and Chicago's Honeycomb Insurance landed $40M in additional funding led by Zeev Ventures. Omaha's Marble Technologies raised a $30M Series A to modernize meatpacking. R1 Capital also spun out of Rev1 Ventures in Columbus as a standalone firm. See all the latest deals + news below.

Have any insights into the Midwest ecosystem or a funding announcement to share? Want to share who you have winning the World Cup? Send us an email: [email protected]

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