Non-dilutive Funding Options for Startups in the Midwest
Raising capital in the Midwest is challenging.
I built and recently sold my SaaS startup, Lead Scout. We’re based in Michigan. We bootstrapped, grew, and eventually exited - all without taking venture capital money. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t try. Over the years, we had hundreds of conversations with VCs, PE firms, and private investors. The reality? Raising capital in the Midwest is tough.
Compared to the coasts, venture capital here in the Midwest is limited.
Angel investors are hard to access. And while grants, accelerator stipends, and city incentives exist, they aren’t always well-publicized or easy to find. Navigating the funding landscape felt like a full-time job in itself.
So in my time post-exit, I started to put together a few resources I became aware of in my own journey, with the hope that helps other early-stage founders find funding. Specifically, non-dilutive funding.
I’ve consolidated a list of these funding options across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin, along with eligibility criteria at MidwestStartupFunding.org.
Oh, and by the way, I built this with AI - watch this video to see how I did it.
In the breath I got post-exit, I found myself collecting funding resources - things I wish I had known when I was in the trenches. State-backed funds, grants, accelerators offering stipends - there are options, but they’re scattered. So, I decided to consolidate them all in one place, for free: MidwestStartupFunding.org.
Hopefully this list is helpful to other early-stage founders in the Midwest. I know it would have been helpful for me when I got started. It’s just a simple, growing list of funding options for early-stage founders trying to figure out where to look first.
Where This Is Going
For now, I’ll keep it updated occasionally. I’ll keep adding to it as people notify me of other resources, or as I come across them myself. My goal is to make it a one-stop shop to help founders looking for funding - because most of these resources are just so scattered all over the place.
But more than anything, I just want to make the early-stage journey a little easier for other Midwest founders. If you know of other funding sources I should add, let me know. Hopefully, this helps.
