The Queen City remains one the Midwest's best cities for startups, according to VC firm M25's annual list of the region's top startup cities.
For the second year in a row, Cincinnati ranked No. 10 on the annual list. However, that wasn't good enough to top the ranking for Ohio, with Columbus coming in at No. 6 — one spot up from its previous year's rank.
And Columbus once again won the "3 C's Battle for Ohio," in which M25 officials stack up Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Columbus outranked its peers since it "boasts the largest VC fund in the entire Midwest region (Drive Capital with over $1.2B AUM), the largest IPO ever in the state (Root Insurance at a $6.7B valuation), Ohio’s newest unicorn (Olive, now valued at $4B) and a handful of other mega-rounds (Lower for $100M, Beam Dental for $80M and Loop Returns for $63M)," M25 Managing Partner Victor Gutwein wrote in a blog post. However, Gutwein writes Cincinnati has the edge statewide for its accelerators, patents and airports.
Overall, the top five cities in M25's list this year are unchanged from 2020's rankings: Chicago, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and St. Louis stand as the top Midwest cities.
Here are the top 20 Midwest cities for startups, according to M25.
- Chicago
- Minneapolis
- Pittsburgh
- Indianpolis
- St. Louis
- Columbus
- Detroit
- Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Madison, Wis.
- Cincinnati
- Cleveland
- Kansas City
- Milwaukee
- Louisville
- Lafayette, Ind.
- Bloomington, Ind.
- Omaha, Neb.
- Champaign, Ill.
- Lincoln, Neb.
- Des Moines, Iowa
M25 compiled its rankings based on three factors:
- Startup activity (active startups, startup formation growth, number of exits, and large outcomes)
- Access to resources (how much local startups have raised from VCs, the number of local investors, incubators/accelerators, universities, government support, and access to quality talent)
- Business climate (cost of living, labor costs, business tax friendliness).
Venture funding is up across the country, and the Midwest is no exception. The amount of venture capital invested in the region has nearly doubled over the last 12 months compared to the same period last year, climbing from $10.1 billion in 2019-20, to $19.8 billion in 2020-21, according to M25.
Last week, Cincinnati's startup community celebrated its biggest funding victory to date, with Hamilton-based 80 Acres Farms bringing in $160 million in Series B capital.
You can see the entire M25 rankings here.
