The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
MADISON, Wis. – Chances are you have never heard of Cove, Mumbies, Service ID or Vitaminis, but if the owners and supporters of those four young companies are successful, those might be familiar names in the years ahead.
All four were participants in this week’s “Mentor Swarm” in Madison, held by gener8tor to solicit advice for their summer cohort of startups that hail from Wisconsin and beyond. I was part of that mentoring session, which involved companies with embedded fin-tech workflows (Cove); all-natural dog chews and snacks (Mumbies); machine learning to help utilities identify lead service lines (Service ID); and shelf-stable “juice shots” for immune support, gut health and more (Vitaminis).
It was a cross-section that illustrated startups in Wisconsin and across the Midwest reflect a range of business sectors – and that it takes some nurturing to get them out of the starting blocks and across a finish line. Two recently released reports help to make the case.
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One was “The Wisconsin Portfolio,” an annual publication that tracks early stage investment trends statewide. Charting 2024 data, the report by the Wisconsin Technology Council showed investing by angels and venture capitalists was down last year (at least $374 million in 92 deals) but there was a trend toward some larger checks and more out-of-state investors.
Wisconsin’s recent experience in angel and venture capital has largely reflected national and regional trends, with 2021 and 2022 being the biggest investment years on record and noticeable falloffs beginning in 2023.
The other was the “2025 Midwest Startup Rankings” from M25 a 10-year-old venture capital firm in Chicago. It covered the top 64 cities in 15 states with data that produced an overall ranking for each.
Some cities were not surprising, given their populations if nothing else. The top four were Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and their metropolitan areas. There were some notable moves from the 2024 report, however.
Jumping to fifth place was Ann Arbor, Mich., which was tied with Madison in the No. 7 spot a year ago. Madison fell two spots to ninth with Columbus, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; and St. Louis, Mo.; in sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. All three states actively support venture capital investments through state matching funds, which the Wisconsin Legislature has yet to do in a major way.
There was some good news, with six other Wisconsin cities at showing up on the list of 64.
The Milwaukee area rose one spot to 14, followed by Green Bay (41), the Fox Cities region (44), Eau Claire (45), Beloit (50) and La Crosse (56). About half were up in rank compared with 2024, the rest were unchanged or dropped.
Business consultant Tim Tesch of Brookfield noted the tight grouping of cities in Milwaukee’s cohort and the region’s ability to rise in such rankings if it leverages existing resources a bit better.
“… Milwaukee ranks #7 in angel investors, #8 in VCs, and #5 in accelerators (and) incubators,” Tesch wrote. “However, we have the smallest number of deals per VC among the top 20 contenders. Our score in this category is 6.2, which is the only single-digit score. This suggests we have a strong foundation but aren’t fully leveraging it to generate a higher volume of deals.”
Also notable in the M25 rankings was the power of academia. In almost every Wisconsin case, there are public or private universities in each town to help provide research, talent or both. The same was true with other states measured through the survey, especially in cities ranked among the top 25.
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times,” concluded Victor Gutwein of M25. “These two phrases are loud and clear across the startup and VC world right now and the Midwest is no exception. In one corner we have buzzy, mega rounds for high-flying AI and robotics companies while in the other we find a prolonged retreat of venture funding, deal counts and unicorn creation.”
Both reports suggest Wisconsin is poised to be more of a startup producer, even in a tough environment. There’s also plenty of competition out there, so it’s not a good time to ease up on the accelerator.
Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. tstill@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.
