Daily, Startups

NVCA: Some unexpected cities have shown VC investment gains

"As more cities, states and municipalities dedicate greater resources to foster the growth of their local ecosystems, venture investors are taking notice and deploying capital across much larger areas of the country," said NVCA CEO Bobby Franklin.

care guidesCharlottsville, Virginia, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Chattanooga, Tennessee might not be at the top of your list of metropolitan areas that have attracted a lot of venture investment deals. Still, a new report from the National Venture Capital Associaton shows significant changes based on their compound annual growth rate for the number of companies receiving venture capital funding since 2010.

Here’s a link to the full breakdown of metropolitan statistical areas.

Bobby Franklin, NVCA CEO, said in a statement: “As more cities, states and municipalities dedicate greater resources to foster the growth of their local ecosystems, venture investors are taking notice and deploying capital across much larger areas of the country. This not only helps the entrepreneurs themselves but local economies as well through job creation and sustained economic growth.”

Charlottsville’s compound annual growth rate stands at more than 55 percent since 2010. Nine companies in the Charlottesville metropolitan area received $27.7 million in venture funding in 2015 (If you are looking at the orginal report, there’s a typo and it says billions) compared to one company receiving $250,000 in 2010. Among the healthcare startups in the area are TearSolutions, a life science company from University of Virginia developing a treatment for dry eyes that closed a Series A round last year.  TypeZero Technologies is a medtech business developing solutions to help manage and treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Venture investment  funding has grown 156.5 percent in the past five years.

The Oklahoma City area had the second largest rate of growth by number of companies receiving investment since 2010 with a 51.6 percent increase and eight companies receiving venture funding in 2015, the report said. It has become a source of life science startups thanks in part to a couple of large research institutions: Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center. There’s also the Oklahoma Life Sciences Fund.  Among the life science companies attracting attention there are Moleculera Labs, which has raised $6.18 million since 2011. Another health tech company that has sprouted there is AliveCor, which also launched in 2011.

Among the investment groups in the area supporting the startup community there is the Oklahoma Life Science Fund.

The Rochester, New York, area scored the third highest growth rate since 2010. Rochester experienced a 43.1 percent increase, with six companies receiving venture investment in 2015.

Fourth was the Chattanooga area, with a 38 percent increase, followed by the Memphis, Tennessee, area with, a 34.5 percent increase.

Photo: Roadmap from Flickr 

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