The key insight this week
It seems the reports that California was losing ground in venture capital investment were a bit overblown. Seven of the top 15 counties by total invested capital is not too shabby.
Carta companies headquartered in the 30 miles or so surrounding San Francisco raised a collective $35.9 billion last year. That's almost exactly half of the combined total of every other U.S. county combined ($70.67 billion).
I freely acknowledge there may be some bias inherent in our data—companies outside of mature VC ecosystems may be less likely to use or even have heard of Carta. But I think the general trend is quite strong.
Beyond the Silicon Valley prominence, though, industries definitely play favorites. Biotech accounts for $6 of every $10 invested into San Diego startups last year, while Miami seems particularly sunny for hardware and gaming. Los Angeles is the only county in the top 15 where 20% or more of all capital goes to consumer companies.
I'm particularly bullish on up-and-coming counties with good industry balance in VC investment. Denver and King County, WA (home to Seattle) seem well-positioned to weather any potential downturns in a single startup industry.
It will be interesting to watch locations differentiate themselves in this more challenging VC environment. Will cities attempt to become "industry towns," the way San Diego and Boston have done? Or will places like Salt Lake County, UT (#18 on the list) and Fulton County, GA (#19) take a balanced approach to growing their ecosystems.
New report
How did the secondary private market perform in 2022? Dig into all the details in this lookback from the Carta Capital Markets team.
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Peter Walker
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