The U.S. venture capital ecosystem has expanded considerably since its early years, when the industry was confined to Silicon Valley and a few other coastal enclaves. These days, nearly every state in the nation is home to a technology hub where entrepreneurs are building startups and funds are raising capital.
But some places are still much bigger VC players than others. In 2024, more than 72% of all capital raised on Carta went to startups across just four states. And only 12 states were able to claim at least 1% of total cash raised this year.
The VC industry is everywhere, to some degree. But activity in the space remains quite concentrated within a handful of primary hubs.
At a high level, a few states continue to dominate. But each year, the map of VC in the U.S. looks a little different. Here are five key ways that the geographical distribution of venture funding shifted during 2024:
1. California widens the gap
Startups headquartered in California combined to collect 48.79% of all U.S. venture capital raised on Carta last year, nearly five times as much as any other state.
It’s typical for the Golden State to easily outpace its peers when it comes to venture fundraising. But even within that context, 2024 was a strong year. California’s total share of all cash raised in the U.S. jumped by nearly 10 percentage points year over year, climbing from 39.69% during 2023.
During the pandemic, many startups and tech leaders decamped San Francisco for other markets, sparking discussion about whether California’s place as the center of the VC universe might someday be threatened. Today, the state’s primacy looks as strong as ever.
2. A new-look Northeast
New York ranked second among all states on the leaderboard of venture funding in 2024, trailing only California. Startups based in New York were together responsible for 10.57% of all dollars raised, an increase from a 9.82% market share from the year before.
In 2023, it was New York’s northeastern neighbor, Massachusetts, that ranked second in the U.S. in dollars raised, with 12.92%. But that figure fell in 2024, declining to 8.06%. Massachusetts still ranked third among all states in funding, but this one-year dropoff is worth watching.
A third state in the Northeast saw a significant change in its VC market share last year: New Jersey. Startups from the Garden State brought in 2.56% of all U.S. funding in 2024, up from 1.86% in 2023.
3. Slippage in the South
The South census region was home to just 11.6% of venture dollars raised last year, compared to 16.3% of cash raised in 2023. Throughout the past several years, the South had been emerging as an increasingly popular place for startups to operate and for investors to put capital to work. In 2024, some of this recent growth receded.
Florida experienced the biggest year-over-year shift: Startups in the state raised just 1.5% of all U.S. venture capital in 2024, down from 4.26% in 2023. Elsewhere in the region, Texas, North Carolina, and Maryland also saw annual declines in their portion of cash raised.
4. Ohio, Illinois lose market share
The Midwest has always trailed the other three census regions in terms of total VC raised. In 2024, the region slipped a little bit further behind.
As a whole, the Midwest claimed just 4% of dollars raised last year, compared to 6.3% in 2023. This decline can be explained in large part by recent trends in some of the region’s biggest states. Ohio’s share of VC raised in the U.S. was 0.54% last year, compared to 1.53% the year before. Illinois, meanwhile, saw its proportion of funding fall to 1.02%, down from 1.74% in 2023.
5. Washington, Colorado stake their claims
As some states lost market share during 2024, others made gains. Two of the most notable risers were both out West.
Startups headquartered in Washington were together responsible for 3.11% of VC raised in 2024, up from 2.61% in 2023. Not the largest gain in a vacuum—but enough for Washington to climb to fifth place on the state funding leaderboard, trailing only California, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas.
Close behind is Colorado, which ranked sixth last year in dollars raised with a 3% market share, up from 1.94% during 2023. Only one other state—California—experienced a larger year-over-year gain.
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