Here are the tiers for venture ecosystems across the US, judged by capital invested into Seed + Series A + Series B rounds.
Data is from the 60,000+ startups that use Carta, location is judged by where the startup is located (not the investor).
𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟭
Bay Area...yup, this is the only Tier 1
𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟮
New York
Boston
Los Angeles
𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟯
Austin
Seattle
San Diego
DC
Denver
𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟰
Dallas
Miami
Chicago
Salt Lake / Provo
Atlanta
Many others around here
There are LOTS of places across the US where you can raise a very solid Seed or Series A round. This should be celebrated, since it was not the case 10 years ago.
There are only a few places where you can raise Series C, D, or late-stage capital. That's the toughest nut to crack for any emerging ecosystem.
And there is only one Bay Area - but you don't need to move to SF. Just visit every once in awhile 😁
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