• About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
  • About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
Home Green Tech Innovation News

On bootstrapping and angels: Insight on getting funding as a Midwest-based tech startup

Katie Pyzyk by Katie Pyzyk
May 7, 2020
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

I’ve spoken with a lot of entrepreneurs over the past few months to bring you stories about their innovations and the problems they’re trying to solve. A topic that comes up frequently is that of funding challenges for Midwest tech business compared to those located on the coasts.

Many entrepreneurs echo similar difficulties. Despite the challenges, they also cite benefits to running a tech business in the Midwest. They are largely positive about their experiences so far, their ability to overcome location-based challenges, and what the future holds for financing startups in the region.

Entrepreneurs say investors in Midwest startups tend to be more risk averse than those in coastal tech hubs.

  • “The reputation Chicago has is being very tight when it comes to giving money versus the East and West Coast [investors], who will just give money to a new idea startup. Here, it’s widely known that they want you to make money or have something working,” said Andre Johnson, founder of Chicago-based LiveEquipd, a platform to help people with disabilities find quality supportive equipment. “It took a lot more time to do this than a lot of novel startups where they got venture capitalist money… It’s not like the big spaces where people are just willing to throw money at it… We need someone to be able to take that chance or see the big picture and understand that this has great potential even though it’s not generating so many dollars.”
  • “Financially, I had 30 years behind me so I bootstrapped it and I have a good support network in that capacity,” said Joanne Rodriguez, founder of Illinois-based Mycocycle, a company that uses fungi to detoxify asphalt construction and demolition waste and turn it into a valuable resource. Still, “I joined the Cleantech Open National last year because I knew I would need exposure from a less risk averse crowd that sees more cleantech and carbontech startups coming through. That has been helpful.”
  • “When you have a cool invention but you don’t have a product it’s not the easiest thing to get funds or develop the idea. … We’ve had all of our capital from private equity, not VC funds. If you look at the number of VCs, there are really only [a few dozen] interested in what we’re doing in the Midwest, but if you go to the coasts there are hundreds of them,” said Tony Bergida, director of communications for Overland Park, Kansas-based Frosty Tech, an eco-friendly, non-toxic cooling product company that I will highlight in a future newsletter. “We’ve been able to make the $6.5 million we raised over the years go farther in the Midwest as opposed to living on the West Coast. … There are a lot of assets to being in the Midwest. It’s a double edged sword.”
  • “I think there are also significant benefits to being based in the Midwest. The risk appetite is more in line with how we look at business. We’re not looking to get someone to write a $5 million check, we’re about creating and sustaining value for customers and the environment,” said Katie Kolhoff, CEO of Illinois-based NUMiX Materials, a company removes heavy metals from industrial wastewater and recovers the metals.

Tomorrow, I’ll share insight on how entrepreneurs say income status, race, and gender equity influence funding channels.

Do you have other insight about financing for Midwest tech business? Let me know so I can highlight it in a future newsletter. Email katie@centered.tech or connect on Twitter @centereddottech to share ideas

Today’s cleantech headlines:

  • Indiana nonprofit Energy Systems Network is partnering with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to launch a $1.5 million prize competition for autonomous vehicle development. 37 teams from nearly a dozen countries are signed up to participate in the Indy Autonomous Challenge. (Business Wire)
  • A team of engineers at Purdue University has created hardware for AI processes that will consume less energy than traditional energy-intensive components. (Tech Xplore)
  • The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is providing $4 million in funding for technology to tranform recovered plastics into fuel. ARPA-E expects to award between four and eight grants. (Resource Recycling)

Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



    Previous Post

    ‘We have to do better’: Illinois startup seeks to clean up wastewater treatment

    Next Post

    What you do matters to funders – sometimes who you are does, too

    Related News

    Vivid lines of light tracing a pattern reminiscent of a spinning top toy.

    Emerging electronics field puts a new spin on energy efficiency

    by Katie Pyzyk
    May 19, 2022
    0

    Spintronics — short for spin electronics — is one of the most important fields advancing energy efficiency that you’ve probably never heard...

    Sabrina Nilufar, assistant professor in the SIU School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering.

    3D printing could create ‘sandwich’ materials more energy efficiently

    by Katie Pyzyk
    May 10, 2022
    0

    A research team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is working to save energy, time, and money while more easily creating sandwich materials.

    Next Post

    What you do matters to funders – sometimes who you are does, too

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

    Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



      Trending News

      A researcher holds a battery component.

      Eco-friendly battery swaps fossil fuels for soybeans

      April 22, 2021
      Heat pumps, EV charging, and cow flatulence: Centered’s top stories of 2021

      Heat pumps, EV charging, and cow flatulence: Centered’s top stories of 2021

      January 4, 2022
      NREL researcher Paty Romero-Lankao stands outside of Union Station in Denver, Colorado.

      Q&A: NREL researcher helps push cleantech ‘to create more livable and inclusive societies’

      April 28, 2021

      Popular Topics

      • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Transportation News
      • Green Energy News
      • Environment News
      • Electric Vehicle (EV) News
      • Water News
      • Batteries
      • Sustainable Agriculture News
      • Solar News
      • Energy Efficiency
      • Smart Cities News
      • Climate News
      • Agtech News
      • Decarbonization News
      • Recycling News
      • Utility News
      • Hydrogen News
      • Wind News
      • Biofuel News
      • Nanotech News
      • Electrical Grid News
      • Aviation News
      • Biomass Energy News
      • Energy Storage News
      • Pollution News
      • Robotics News
      • Nuclear News
      • Commercial / Shipping News
      • Climate Tech News
      • Hydropower News
      • Fuel Cell News
      • Smart Meter News
      • Internet of Things (IoT) News
      Centered



      © 2022 Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is a publication of the Energy News Network, in partnership with the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation.

      • Privacy
      • Terms of Use
      No Results
      View all Results
      • About
      • Top Stories
      • Topics
        • Green Energy News
        • Transportation News
        • Sustainable Agriculture News
        • Electrical Grid News
        • Environment News
        • Smart Cities News
        • Climate News
        • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Contact

      Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

      Subscribe to receive a free daily roundup of underreported technology stories from around the region.



        Contact Us