Cleveland Startups to Watch in 2027: Verified Companies in HealthTech, MedTech, GovTech and Climate Tech
Cleveland's startups grow out of what the city already has: one of the world's best-known hospital systems, a research university, NASA's Glenn Research Center and a long industrial history. That is why so many of the companies below build medical devices, diagnostics and health software, and why several started from Cleveland Clinic research or a Case Western Reserve University lab. The 2026 version of this article listed ten names. When we checked them, only two could be confirmed as Cleveland startups that still operate; the others were based elsewhere, had grown into public companies, or had no official site we could find. For this 2027 edition we checked every company on its own website or its own press release in November 2026. What happened to the old names is listed near the end.
Quick answer: the Cleveland startups to watch in 2027 are CHAMP Titles (digital vehicle titles for state DMVs), Axuall (clinician data), Cleveland Diagnostics (prostate cancer blood test), MediView XR (augmented reality for surgery), Centerline Biomedical (radiation-free surgical navigation), Enspire DBS Therapy (stroke recovery), ReadySet Surgical (surgical supply chain), Sonic Fire Tech (fire suppression with sound), CLEANR (microplastic filters) and TandemStride (recovery after trauma). For support, start with JumpStart Inc. and the Ohio Third Frontier.
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Why Cleveland Matters for Founders in 2027
Cleveland startups tend to be deep: they take years of clinical trials, FDA reviews or state contracts before they scale. In return they get things a coastal startup cannot easily buy, such as access to Cleveland Clinic surgeons for first-in-human studies, engineers who trained at Case Western Reserve University or NASA Glenn, and investors who back Ohio companies on purpose. Three companies on this list (Cleveland Diagnostics, MediView and Centerline Biomedical) started from Cleveland Clinic work, and CLEANR still has its address at the university's Sears think[box] maker space. If you build health technology or hardware, Cleveland gives you customers, clinical partners and lower costs than Boston or the Bay Area.
Compare Cleveland with other cities in our lists: Columbus, Chicago, Kansas City, Baltimore, Providence, Omaha and, across the Atlantic, Lisbon. For the bigger picture, see our guide to startup cities in North America.
Cleveland Startups to Watch in 2027 Compared
Sources: each company's official website or its own press release, checked 3 November 2026. CHAMP Titles' site does not give an address, so its Cleveland base comes from news reports of its funding round.
The Cleveland Startups to Watch in 2027
1. CHAMP Titles: digital car titles for state governments
CHAMP Titles builds cloud software that lets state motor vehicle agencies issue and manage vehicle titles, registrations, liens and driver credentials digitally instead of on paper. Its history page says it was founded in autumn 2018, won the Greater Cleveland Partnership's "Most Promising Start-Up" award in 2019 and 2022, signed West Virginia as its first state in December 2021, and was selected by Louisiana's Office of Motor Vehicles in August 2025. The same page lists an $18 million Series C in March 2024 and a $55 million round, its largest, in December 2025. According to GovTech, the Ohio-based company says more than 35 million Americans have access to its technology through state contracts.
Lesson for founders: CHAMP won one state first and turned it into a reference for the next. In government technology, the first contract is the hardest and the most valuable.
Best for: founders in govtech, automotive and insurance software.
2. Axuall: verified data about every clinician
Axuall runs a healthcare data network that builds a constantly updated record for each clinician from primary sources and real-world practice data. Hospitals and staffing firms use its products to find candidates (Explore), speed up credentialing and onboarding (Confirm) and keep provider data correct across their systems (Sync). Its site lists its address at 724 Prospect Avenue East in downtown Cleveland. It was on the old list and is still active, with new posts on its blog through the summer of 2026.
Lesson for founders: Axuall sells a boring but painful process: checking that a doctor is who the paperwork says. Back-office pain in large institutions can support a whole company.
Best for: founders in health tech, HR tech and data infrastructure.
3. Cleveland Diagnostics: a clearer blood test for prostate cancer
Cleveland Diagnostics makes IsoPSA, a blood test that helps doctors judge whether a man with a raised PSA result is likely to have high-grade prostate cancer, so fewer men need an unnecessary biopsy. Its about page says the company was co-founded by Cleveland Clinic, and its address is 3615 Superior Avenue in Cleveland. Its news page lists a $75 million financing in January 2024, the FDA approval of IsoPSA in late 2025 and ISO 13485 certification in 2026 as it expands the test commercially.
Lesson for founders: Cleveland Diagnostics spent years on studies, guidelines and reimbursement before the big approval. In diagnostics, evidence is the product.
Best for: founders in diagnostics, biotech and men's health.
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4. MediView XR: seeing inside the patient with augmented reality
MediView XR builds augmented reality software that shows doctors 3D anatomy through the patient's skin during procedures, fusing CT scans with live ultrasound. Its about page calls it "a Cleveland, OH based med-tech company", and its XR90 platform is FDA-cleared. On 6 October 2025 it announced a $24 million Series A led by GE HealthCare, with Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and the JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund among the investors. The company was founded on Cleveland Clinic-developed intellectual property. Its site blocked our screenshot tool, so there is no image here.
Lesson for founders: MediView's investors are also its partners and early users. Strategic investors who will put your product in front of clinicians can be worth more than the cheque.
Best for: founders in medtech, AR/VR and surgical software.
5. Centerline Biomedical: surgical navigation with less radiation
Centerline Biomedical makes IOPS, an FDA 510(k)-cleared navigation system that guides catheters inside blood vessels in 3D and in colour, so endovascular surgeons rely less on X-ray fluoroscopy and its radiation. Its story page says Cleveland Clinic spun it out as a standalone company in 2014, that the first clinical cases in the United States were done at Cleveland Clinic in April 2020, and that it raised $33 million in Series B funding in 2022. Its contact page lists 4535 Renaissance Parkway in Cleveland.
Lesson for founders: Centerline sells safety to the people in the room, not only the patient. Solving a problem the buyer feels personally makes adoption easier.
Best for: founders in medical devices and surgical technology.
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6. Enspire DBS Therapy: deep brain stimulation for stroke recovery
Enspire DBS Therapy is developing deep brain stimulation combined with rehabilitation therapy to help stroke survivors regain arm function. The device is still investigational and is being tested in RESTORE, a multicentre pivotal Phase 2/3 trial. On 13 January 2026 it announced a $10.3 million Series B1 financing to advance that pivotal work. Its address is 1300 East 9th Street in Cleveland.
Lesson for founders: Enspire reuses a therapy with a long safety record in other conditions for a new use. A known technology in a new market can shorten the path to the clinic.
Best for: founders in neurotech and rehabilitation.
7. ReadySet Surgical: getting the right instruments to the operating room
ReadySet Surgical sells a platform that connects hospitals and medical device vendors around surgery: tracking loaner instrument trays, automating bill-only orders and giving managers analytics. Its about page says it is headquartered in Cleveland and supports more than 150 hospitals, with 1.6 million surgical cases on the platform. The founders started it after seeing a surgery delayed because equipment was missing.
Lesson for founders: ReadySet sits between two groups, hospitals and vendors, who both lose money when a tray is late. Products that help both sides of a transaction spread through each side's network.
Best for: founders in hospital operations, supply chain and B2B SaaS.
8. Sonic Fire Tech: putting out fires with sound
Sonic Fire Tech develops infrasound systems that detect a fire and suppress it with low-frequency sound through concealed ceiling ducts, without water or chemicals. Its site says former NASA acoustics engineers founded it. In a release dated 19 August 2026 and published on its site, The O.H.I.O. Fund announced it was leading a new round, with Khosla Ventures investing again, bringing Sonic Fire Tech's seed funding to $15 million. The release says the company is headquartered in Cleveland, built its engineering base there to be close to NASA's Glenn Research Center, and was named a CES 2026 Innovation Awards honoree.
Lesson for founders: news coverage listed on Sonic Fire Tech's site describes a shift from wildfire defence to kitchen fires in homes, where buyers decide faster. The right first customer can matter more than the biggest problem.
Best for: founders in hardware, proptech and safety technology.
9. CLEANR: stopping microplastics at the washing machine
CLEANR makes a filter that attaches to any washing machine and, according to the company's own third-party tests, captures more than 90% of the microplastic fibres that clothes shed in the wash. It has added a septic guard and CLEANR SIP, a filter for water bottles. Its three co-founders studied engineering at Case Western Reserve University, and its address is the university's Sears think[box] on Cedar Avenue in Cleveland. The site lists six Best of IFA awards and a CES 2026 Innovation Awards honoree title. It was on the old list as "CleanR" and is still growing.
Lesson for founders: CLEANR sells to households and also places filters with colleges and universities across the Great Lakes region. Institutional partners give a young hardware company volume, data and credibility before retail.
Best for: founders in climate tech, consumer hardware and water.
10. TandemStride: support after a serious injury
TandemStride helps trauma survivors and their families after they leave hospital: its TandemOS software spots patients at risk, tracks recovery and connects them with trained guides, while hospitals and health plans pay for the programme, so it is free for survivors. Its homepage lists programmes in 37 states, more than 47 health systems and more than 6,000 survivors served. Founder and CEO Matt Kalina started it after his brother's recovery from a serious accident. Its backers include JumpStart Ventures, and its contact page gives a Cleveland address.
Lesson for founders: TandemStride's users do not pay; the hospitals and insurers that save money on readmissions do. Find who benefits financially from your user's success.
Best for: founders in digital health and patient support.
Where Cleveland Startups Get Support
- JumpStart Inc.: the region's main nonprofit for tech founders. Its Trailblazer Software Accelerator is a three-month hybrid programme for pre-seed and seed startups based in Ohio or ready to move there, with no fees or ownership stakes and the first $50,000 of services from its partner network covered. Applications for the next cohort were set to close on 10 November 2026, for a programme running from 12 January to 29 April 2027. A Trailblazer HealthTech Accelerator runs on the same model for health startups. JumpStart Ventures, its investing arm, provides seed to Series A capital through five funds.
- Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund: state grants for startups that license technology from Ohio universities and research institutions. Phase 2 proposals for Round 47 were set to be due on 5 November 2026, with awards expected around January 2027; the Department of Development's 2025 call described Phase 2 awards of up to $200,000 per project.
- The O.H.I.O. Fund: a private investment firm that invests only in Ohio companies and projects. It led Sonic Fire Tech's latest seed round and joined other Ohio rounds; the release on Sonic Fire Tech's site says it had raised $647 million through 31 March 2026.
- Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University: not programmes you apply to like an accelerator, but the source of several companies here. Cleveland Diagnostics, MediView and Centerline Biomedical grew from Cleveland Clinic work, and CLEANR came out of the university's think[box].
How to Back or Join Cleveland Startups
If you searched for how to invest in Cleveland startups, here are the routes the companies above actually used. This is a description, not investment advice: early-stage investments are risky and illiquid, and most private rounds are open only to accredited investors.
- Join a startup: most companies above link a careers page from their own site, and JumpStart's workspace and events are where Northeast Ohio founders meet.
- Mentor or advise: JumpStart's accelerators publish lists of mentors and subject matter experts from local companies; Arnon Chait of Cleveland Diagnostics, for example, is listed among the HealthTech accelerator's experts.
- Be a first customer or pilot site: hospitals, health plans, state agencies and manufacturers are the buyers here. A pilot or a letter of intent often helps a Cleveland startup more than a small cheque.
- Invest through a fund: regional funds such as JumpStart Ventures and The O.H.I.O. Fund pool money into Ohio startups; each sets its own rules for who may invest, so ask them directly.
- Founders looking for angels: see our list of angel investors in North America and early-stage VCs in North America.
Small business founders in Cleveland, Ohio who are not building venture-scale tech can use JumpStart's small business side: the Blueprint and ScaleReady education programmes, the CapitalReady accelerator, free webinars and the Cleveland Learning Centers with free business coaching.
Cleveland Programmes and Companies That Changed or Could Not Be Verified
The 2026 version of this article listed ten names. Here is what we found when we checked each one, and the local programmes it mentioned, in November 2026:
- Kept: Axuall and CLEANR still operate in Cleveland.
- Splash Financial: the lending marketplace's website blocks visitors from our region, so we could not check it on its own site. According to its September 2025 announcement, it raised more than $70 million in a Series C round.
- Abeona Therapeutics: still headquartered in Cleveland, but no longer a startup: its gene therapy ZEVASKYN was approved in April 2025 and it runs a commercial manufacturing facility in the city.
- PureCycle: a plastic recycling company listed on Nasdaq since 2021; its first purification plant is in Ironton, in southern Ohio, not Cleveland.
- Resource Innovations: its website gives no Cleveland base, so we left it out.
- Droxi AI, FreStore, Flowpoint AI and HomePass: we found no official websites confirming them as Cleveland companies, so they were removed.
- BioEnterprise: its old domain is now listed for sale, so we no longer describe it as an active programme.
- Flashstarts and North Coast Angel Fund: the Flashstarts site did not load (its security certificate is invalid) and the North Coast Angel Fund site showed only a "launching soon" page, so we could not confirm either as active.
We also removed the old article's unsourced figures, its links to third-party startup rankings and its general marketing sections.
Which Cleveland Startup Should You Learn From?
- You build a medical device or diagnostic: study Cleveland Diagnostics, MediView and Centerline Biomedical for working with a hospital partner from day one, and Enspire for running a pivotal trial.
- You build health software: study Axuall for selling a back-office fix, ReadySet for serving two sides of a transaction, and TandemStride for a model where the payer is not the user.
- You sell to government: study CHAMP Titles for turning one state contract into a national business.
- You build hardware or climate tech: study Sonic Fire Tech for choosing a faster first market, and CLEANR for pairing consumer sales with university partners.
- You are just starting: look at JumpStart's Trailblazer accelerators and the Ohio Third Frontier start-up fund.
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How Founders Use Cleveland's Startup Scene
Notice the pattern: most companies here began with a clinical or technical partner, such as Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University or NASA Glenn, and raised money from Ohio investors before national ones joined. For more non-dilutive money and programmes, see grants for female entrepreneurs in North America, deep tech grants in North America, startup competitions in North America, AI accelerators in North America and accelerators for female entrepreneurs.
Before you copy any of these business models, validate your startup idea with real customers. Hospital buyers, state agencies and investors research suppliers long before they call, so you need to be easy to find online: list your startup in the F/MS marketing directories, publish your startup press release, and write about your product with the F/MS AI SEO Tool so customers, investors and AI assistants can find you.
FAQ About Cleveland Startups to Watch in 2027
Which Cleveland startups should I watch in 2027?
Our verified list: CHAMP Titles, Axuall, Cleveland Diagnostics, MediView XR, Centerline Biomedical, Enspire DBS Therapy, ReadySet Surgical, Sonic Fire Tech, CLEANR and TandemStride. Each still operates and is based in Cleveland, checked on its own site or press release in November 2026.
Why are so many Cleveland startups in health care?
Because of the local partners. Cleveland Diagnostics was co-founded by Cleveland Clinic, Centerline Biomedical was spun out of it in 2014, and MediView was founded on Cleveland Clinic intellectual property. Hospitals give these companies clinical expertise, first test sites and sometimes investment.
How can I invest in Cleveland startups?
Most rounds are private and open only to accredited investors, and early-stage investing is risky. The usual routes are regional funds such as JumpStart Ventures and The O.H.I.O. Fund, or investing alongside them in a company's round. This is not investment advice; ask each fund about its own rules.
Which Cleveland startups raised money recently?
From the companies' own announcements: Sonic Fire Tech completed $15 million in seed funding in August 2026, Enspire DBS Therapy announced a $10.3 million Series B1 in January 2026, CHAMP Titles raised $55 million in December 2025, and MediView XR closed a $24 million Series A in October 2025.
Is there an accelerator for startups in Cleveland?
Yes. JumpStart runs the Trailblazer Software Accelerator and the Trailblazer HealthTech Accelerator for pre-seed and seed startups based in Ohio or willing to move there. Neither charges fees or takes equity, and each covers the first $50,000 of services from its partner network.
Where can small businesses in Cleveland, Ohio get help?
JumpStart's small business programmes include Blueprint, ScaleReady and the CapitalReady accelerator, plus free webinars and the Cleveland Learning Centers, which offer free business coaching and technology training.
Does Ohio give grants to startups?
Yes. The Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund supports startups that license technology from Ohio research institutions. Round 47 Phase 2 proposals were set to be due on 5 November 2026, with awards expected around January 2027.
What happened to Splash Financial and Abeona Therapeutics from the old list?
Splash Financial's website blocks visitors from our region, so we could not verify it on its own site. Abeona Therapeutics is still headquartered in Cleveland but now sells an approved gene therapy, so it is no longer a startup.
Which Cleveland startups work on climate and safety?
CLEANR makes filters that stop microplastics from washing machines and water bottles, and Sonic Fire Tech develops fire suppression that uses low-frequency sound instead of water or chemicals.
Where can I get a backlink by writing about my startup?
You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools. Get a quality backlink.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
