The US city with the most resilient early-stage startup ecosystem is...
Boston.
Surprised? Me too, honestly.
But the data is pretty clear. Whereas other major VC markets have seen overall funding decline by at least half from 2022 to 2023, Boston is only down 19%.
This data is only looking at Priced Seed / Series A fundraising and the picture is considerably less rosy at the later stages. But early startups in Boston have had it relatively better than basically anywhere else.
(Yes, D.C. saw a decline of less than 10% in funding year over year, but it's a much smaller ecosystem overall so still giving Boston the crown).
Even more surprising - startups on Carta in Boston have actually raised more capital in these early stages than startups in New York. First time that's happened since we began tracking in 2016.
So what gives?
Boston is being buoyed by a tough Biotech industry (38% of all Boston-area fundraising so far this year). That single industry pillar is absent in NY and Bay Area, which are both more sector-diverse.
Other industries performing relatively well this year for Boston include Healthtech, Hardware, and B2B SaaS more generally.
Only caveat - this analysis doesn't take into account "seed on SAFEs" rounds. Looking to add those into future views, but I'd be shocked if the percentages change radically. Boston's Biotech focus would push more companies to raise early capital on convertible notes as opposed to SAFEs, but the gap would probably remain.
Overall takeaway here: basically every startup market across the States has had a rough go of it in 2023. Here's to a healthier Q4 and hopefully turning the page to a brighter 2024 soon. __________
Quick news - I'm speaking at Singapore Fintech Fest next week! Shoot me a DM or leave a comment below if you'll be in town and would like to meet IRL __________
#cartadata #Boston #Seed #earlystage #SeriesA #startups #fundraising
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