News: Portfolio 2008

Venture capital spreads the wealth around the country

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"We make our bread and butter from companies in the mid-Atlantic region," says managing director Dean Miller at Novitas Capital, "but we source technologies from California, Europe — all over the world."

Novitas, in Pittsburgh, manages $237 million in 30 start-ups, including Logical Therapeutics, which develops drugs to treat diseases such as arthritis.

•Washington State. There's a rich pool of entrepreneurial talent to tap in Seattle, home to Microsoft, (MSFT) Starbucks (SBUX) and Amazon.com, (AMZN) says Chad Waite, managing director at OVP Venture Partners in Kirkland, Wash.

 

Waite left Silicon Valley and joined OVP 21 years ago, well before Microsoft became a global giant. Now, OVP manages $800 million in 100 start-ups in life sciences, semiconductors, nanotechnology and other fields.

 

While other regions fund first-time, untested entrepreneurs, OVP is investing in a second generation of seasoned, successful entrepreneurs. "They've been through the battles and are proven," Waite says.

 

In venture capital, here are the fastest-growing U.S. regions by companies and total investment dollars over 10 years.
	Number of companies			Total investment (in millions)
	2007	1997	% change	2007	1997	% change
New Mexico	21	3	600%	128.26	27.03	375%
Pittsburgh	44	12	267%	198.17	32.32	513%
Seattle	132	65	103%	1253.41	403.2	211%
Los Angeles	124	72	72%	1149.92	450.28	155%

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