The never-ending discourse around where startups get started can get pretty stale.
But taking a step back, the clear trend is towards a more distributed market for the earliest startups.
Across all funding stages, startups in the Bay Area see about 35% of total funding. If you only look at rounds under $1 million, the Bay captures a mere 24.7%.
Now some of this is that founders in the most mature markets may start with rounds that surpass $1 million right off the bat, sure. But I think it is mostly a story of venture starting to grow roots in cities that have never been traditional powerhouses - places like Atlanta, Portland, Phoenix, and Minneapolis.
Of course many of those companies will probably need to get in touch with investors from the Bay or NYC when it comes time to raise the Series A or beyond.
Side note on Miami, since it's everyone's favorite debate topic. In our numbers Miami has not made a dent in the startup world overall, but in this early list it has jumped to 6th which is impressive!
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Peter Walker
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