A Joint Initiative · 2026

Does your ecosystem actually work
for the missing middle?

Most entrepreneurial ecosystems were built around VC-shaped companies. This scorecard helps you find out whether yours is actually working for the founders your community needs most.

Start with what's true today. This tool is designed to help you find your highest-leverage opportunities, not grade your performance. The score is a starting point, not a verdict.

Builders + BackersBuilders + Backers
HomefieldHomefield
7Categories
14Core questions
~15 minTo complete
Score your ecosystem

The gap between
banks and venture capital

Most companies are neither bank-ready nor VC-shaped. They're service businesses, consumer goods, local product companies — growing steadily, just not exponentially into unicorns.

They need somewhere between $50K and $1M to fuel their growth. Most communities have no good answer for them. That's the missing middle — and it's the engine of your local economy.

This scorecard tells you how well your ecosystem actually serves them, and where you're leaving the most opportunity on the table.

Banks
Collateral + cash flow
↕ ↕ ↕
The missing middle — $50K to $1M+
SERVICE BUSINESSES · LOCAL BRANDS · STEADY GROWERS
↕ ↕ ↕
10x exits only
VC

The Scorecard

Score your community

Answer honestly — start with what's true today. Each category has two required questions and optional deep-dive questions if you want to go further.

Category 1 of 7 14%

Your Results

Ecosystem scorecard

Scored against an expert-informed benchmark based on Builders + Backers and Homefield's direct assessment of entrepreneurial ecosystems across U.S. communities. These are placeholder benchmark scores — final values set by B+B and Homefield before launch.

Missing Middle Ecosystem Scorecard

Overall score

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Strongest area

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Biggest gap

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Category overview

Your score vs. expert-informed benchmark

Your score Benchmark
Builders + Backers
Homefield

BUILDERS + BACKERS  ·  HOMEFIELD

Category breakdown — tap to expand

Before you go

Enter your email to save and print your results. Tell us where you'd like to go from here — everything else is optional but helps us have a better first conversation.

I'm interested in (select all that apply)
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Thank you for taking the Missing Middle Ecosystem Scorecard.

Taking an honest look at where and how your community is or isn't working for founders isn't easy. This tool is designed to help you find your highest-leverage opportunities, not grade your performance. It's a starting point, not a verdict.

The good news: every gap your score revealed is solvable. Communities across the country are building the infrastructure the missing middle needs — local capital vehicles, founder discovery systems, aligned support and funding. It's happening. And you're now part of the conversation.

We'll be in touch soon.

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