It’s almost time to celebrate Earth Day! 🌎

⏰ Midwest Minute 

It’s about time to celebrate the third planet from the Sun: the Earth! Earth Day, a holiday that has been around since the 1970s, is right around the corner. It often signals the true start to spring in the Midwest (after enduring what feels like our third winter and typically at the tail end of the rainy season). Back in 1969, influenced by his constituents and an oil spill off the coast of California, a Wisconsin Senator had the idea to raise awareness for the environment. It kicked off on college campuses and has since blossomed into a global movement—now celebrated in 192 countries.

The Midwest has been a big advocate for Earth Day festivities, with St. Louis hosting one of the largest gatherings annually. Meanwhile, Chicago is sprouting up as the next hot spot for climate tech, hosting events such as Chicago Climate-Tech Week every year and nurturing a garden of climate-focused VCs in their backyard such as S2G, Buoyant, Evergreen Climate Innovations and Energize, to name a few. College campuses across the Midwest are also showing some serious Earth love, like UW-Madison’s week-long celebration: Earth Fest or at UChicago’s Earth Month. The region may just be sowing the seeds to become the next leaders in Climate Tech and promoting a more circular economy.

In other “green” news, Akron’s ExpandShare was acquired by Restaurant365. Cincinnati-based Abre announced a $24M Series A led by PeakSpan. Elucent Medical, a Minneapolis-based startup, announced a $42.5M Series C. More of the latest funding news from across the region below.

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

📰 Notable News

Exits

• Akron-based ExpandShare was acquired by Restaurant365 for an undisclosed amount 

Startup Funding

• Elucent Medical - $42.5M Series C co-led by Vensana Capital and RC Capital | Minneapolis

• Kode Labs - $30M Series B led by Maverick Private Equity | Detroit

• Abre - $24M Series A led by PeakSpan Capital | Cincinnati

• Rivet - $6M round led by Brick & Mortar Ventures | Detroit

• Pinch - $3.5M Seed led by Starting Line | Chicago

• Neurava - $2.26M Seed led by Life Science Angels | Indianapolis

Other News

• We have 2024 Midwest Madness Champion: State College, PA!

• How Artificial Intelligence Software is Reducing Nursing Turnover at Nebraska Medicine

• Six Minnesota businesswomen named to Inc. Magazine's 'Female Founders 250' list

• St. Louis to compete in 'Startup World Cup'

• Illinois launches $9M clean-energy accelerator program

📆 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]