The Midwest startup scene is heating up.
Despite the national tech focus on companies in Silicon Valley and New York, there have been a number of high-profile tech success stories out of the Midwest over the last year. Ann Arbor's Duo Security was acquired by Cisco for $2.3 billion. Cincinnati's Ahalogy was acquired for $50 million by the parent company of Coupons.com. And Chicago's Home Chef was bought by Kroger in a deal valued up to $700 million.
The venture community is also recognizing the startup momentum taking place in the Midwest. Steve Case launched a $150 million Rise of the Rest fund to back startups in overlooked cities, and Indy's High Alpha raised more than $100 million for two new funds.
To take stock in the startup activity happening across the Midwest, Chicago VC firm M25 published its second annual Best of the Midwest report, which ranks the top 54 tech hubs in the region. Below are the top 10 cities for startups in the Midwest, followed by a map of tech activity across more than a dozen Midwest states. (The map can also be seen here.)
1. Chicago 2. Minneapolis 3. Pittsburgh 4. St. Louis 5. Indianapolis 6. Cleveland 6. Columbus 6. Ann Arbor 6. Detroit 10. Cincinnati 10. Madison
The top four cities remained unchanged from M25's rankings last year, with Chicago---not surprisingly---holding down the top spot. Indianapolis jumped to No. 5 after ranking 8th last year, and Ann Arbor and Detroit tied for 6th after ranking 11 and 13 in 2017, respectively.
Cincinnati fell to a tie for 10th with Madison after placing 5th last year.
To rank the cities, M25 looked at things like "Big Outcomes" (large tech exits and fundraises), "Startup Momentum" (growth of the number of startups over time) and "Connectivity" (distance to large airports, population reach within a 2-hour drive and access to major highways). The report also took into account quality of tech talent, investor activity, accelerators, universities and government support.
You can read the full report here.
