News: Portfolio 2008

Fastest Growing Regions for Venture Capital Investment Lie Outside Silicon Valley

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companies around talent and innovations spun out of a government lab. Second, VCs are increasingly drawn to local companies' ability to sell sophisticated technologies that address some of the government's and industries' toughest challenges. With D.C.-area venture-backed companies like Blackboard and AOL spawning new companies and, in some cases, new clusters, the region is likely to remain attractive for many years.”

 

Top industries: Software, Life Sciences, Telecom
Most Active Investors: Novak Biddle Venture Partners, Columbia Capital, Grotech, New Enterprise Associates, Valhalla
Stage of Investment: 37 percent of the companies were Seed/Early stage
Largest Investments: Bravo Health, BillMeLater, Gridpoint

 

While these five regions represent the fastest growing, there are many other areas of the country that have enjoyed significant venture capital investment growth in the last ten years. In fact, 25 of the 50 states experienced double digit growth from 1997 to 2007.

 

"Silicon Valley and New England are well-known for their entrepreneurial spirit. However, VCs have been encouraged to look to other markets for talented individuals with great ideas and solid business plans, in part because the cost of doing business is less in these alternative markets," explained Tracy Lefteroff, global managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers venture capital practice. "Another reason VCs are likely drawn to these markets is the quality of talent coming out of prominent universities and corporations as well as the opportunities for academia and other large corporations in the region to spin out new companies. These factors provide ample investment opportunities as well as a capable employee base to staff those opportunities."

 

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