The wild wild Midwest!🦒

⏰ Midwest Minute 

If you’ve been online lately, you’ve probably met Punch—the monkey who went viral for carrying around a stuffed orangutan plush toy, sparking millions of views and a fresh wave of interest in animal behavior. While Punch is all over the internet, you can also find him at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan. Viral moments like that tend to put zoos back on our radar, and in the Midwest, there’s plenty of history behind the headlines. Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, founded in 1868, is one of the oldest operating zoos in North America and remains one of the few major metropolitan zoos that is completely free to the public. The Indianapolis Zoo blends traditional exhibits with marine animal rescue, global conservation partnerships and accredited research programs, while the Saint Louis Zoo also operates free of charge and consistently ranks among the most visited zoos in the country.

Further east, Ohio quietly anchors some of the most influential chapters in modern zoo culture. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium expanded into national prominence under longtime director Jack Hanna, helping bring wildlife education into living rooms across America. And about two hours southeast sits The Wilds, a nearly 10,000-acre conservation center built on reclaimed strip-mined land and now one of the largest wildlife conservation facilities in North America. From free urban zoos to open-range safari preserves, the Midwest’s zoo footprint stretches far, pairing public access with large-scale conservation work across the region.

Have any insights into the Midwest ecosystem or a funding announcement to share? Want to share your favorite animal? Send us an email: [email protected] 

📰 Notable News

Exits

• Chicago-based SpotHero acquired by Uber for an undisclosed amount

• Omaha-based Guardify acquired NCAtrak for an undisclosed amount

Startup Funding

• Efficient Computer - $60M Series A led by Triatomic Capital | Pittsburgh

• Letter AI - $40M Series B led by Battery Ventures | Chicago

• LanzaJet - $47M first close for a $135M round co-led by IAG and Shell | Chicago

• Eagle Wireless - $30M Series B led by Asymmetric and The O.H.I.O Fund | Cleveland

• Newity - $11M round led by CMT Digital | Chicago

• 7Rivers - $5M Series A led by Inoca Capital Partners | Milwaukee

• Qumis - $4.3M Seed led by MTech Capital | Chicago

• Pearl Edison - $3.3M Seed co-led by New Systems Ventures and Commonweal Ventures | Detroit

• Sherpas - $3.2M Seed led by 1248 | Kansas City

VC Funds

• OH.io - $100M+ fund | Columbus

Other News

• Chicago startup sues OpenAI for trademark infringement over Sora's 'Cameo' feature

• Meta’s own research found parental supervision doesn’t really help curb teens’ compulsive social media use

• Global Fund Performance Report (with preliminary Q3 2025 data)

• PitchBook Analyst Note: Private Equity’s Exposure to the Software Reckoning

• Abridge CTO talks Epic, Microsoft, and rebranding as ‘more than an AI scribe’

• Trump signals new tariffs plan. Here's how Section 122 works

• Anthropic closes $30 billion funding round as cash keeps flowing into top AI startups

• Warner Bros. Discovery says Paramount raised its bid to $31 per share

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]