Illinois
State · United States · Pop. 12.7M · #22 region by EV
* C→Unicorn and Unicorn→Decacorn rates are derived from current counts (no founding-cohort data); the four mid-funnel rates use Dealroom's cohort tracking.
Quarterly report
Illinois's latest quarter in venture capital
VC raised by Illinois-headquartered companies in the quarter shown, against the quarter before and the same quarter a year earlier.
Latest complete quarter
Loading VC raised by Illinois-headquartered companies…
Largest rounds
Largest funding rounds in Illinois
A live treemap of the largest VC rounds. Each cell is one round into Illinois-headquartered companies, grouped by Dealroom sector.
Largest rounds in Illinois - 2026
VC investment
How much venture capital flows into Illinois
VC investment into Illinois-headquartered, VC-backed companies, broken down by round size, company location, sector and funding stage.
Academia
Illinois's academic flywheel
Companies founded by university alumni or spun out of research, plus the institutions producing the most founders tied to Illinois.
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Notable alumni-founded: PayPal (co-founder)YouTube (co-founder)Yelp
Location comparison
How Illinois stacks up
Compare Illinois with peers from the same country (United States) — switch between combined EV, EV growth, and a growth × size view. Expand the table for the full ranking.
Combined enterprise value of each ecosystem.
Top regions in United States ranked by combined EV. Illinois's row is highlighted (#12).
| # | Ecosystem | Combined EV | EV growth | Unicorns | VC invested | Tracked startups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $21.6T | 9.1× | 1,125 | $179B | 36.5K |
| 2 | Western United States (Pacific, excl. Bay Area) | $4.3T | 11.0× | 324 | $29.5B | 16.4K |
| 3 | Northeastern United States | $3.3T | 4.9× | 645 | $52.7B | 30.8K |
| 4 | Washington (State) | $2.9T | 29.6× | 75 | $7.5B | 3,227 |
| 5 | Texas | $2.5T | 12.5× | 139 | $11.3B | 6,656 |
| 6 | Southeastern United States | $1.4T | 5.8× | 190 | $11.6B | 14.3K |
| 7 | New York State | $1.4T | 5.3× | 296 | $30.9B | 15.5K |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $1.2T | 5.2× | 207 | $12.9B | 6,047 |
| 9 | Florida | $804B | 10.2× | 67 | $4.1B | 4,826 |
| 10 | Midwestern United States | $673B | 3.8× | 123 | $9.3B | 10.6K |
| 11 | Western United States (Mountain) | $402B | 4.8× | 104 | $10.3B | 5,511 |
| 12 | Illinois | $271B | 3.2× | 55 | $2.2B | 3,110 |
More data
Explore Dealroom data →Get the full Illinois ecosystem on Dealroom
Live company-by-company deal flow, full cap tables, founder pedigrees, hiring signals and revenue trajectories.