By York IE and Fulcrum Fairness Companions
For a few years, the startup ecosystem has centered round just a few main hubs.
California’s Silicon Valley has lengthy been thought of the middle of the U.S. tech scene. New York Metropolis’s connection to Wall Avenue and the inventory market make it a bustling middle for innovation. Boston, with its shut ties to larger training and biotech, garners loads of the startup highlight.
However in at this time’s distributed world, tech innovation can come from anyplace. Throughout the US, secondary cities are rising as new startup hubs. The Secondary Startup Cities Report goals to provide these burgeoning tech facilities their shine.
York IE, an advisory and enterprise capital agency primarily based out of Manchester, New Hampshire and Fulcrum Fairness Companions, a non-public fairness agency in Atlanta, Georgia, have teamed as much as share proprietary knowledge on fundraising and funding exercise from secondary markets inside the US. The report defines a secondary metropolis as any metro space within the U.S., excluding areas in California, New York and Massachusetts, given the foremost tech hubs in these states.
Secondary cities supply distinctive benefits, together with decrease operational prices, high-quality expertise swimming pools and a rising variety of tech-savvy shoppers and companies. The shift in direction of distant work and distributed groups, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has additional propelled the attractiveness of secondary cities.
Let’s dissect this knowledge:
Key Takeaways
A handful of high-level themes emerged from this knowledge:
Robust Funding Outflow from Secondary Cities
In 2023, traders primarily based in secondary cities collectively invested almost $62 billion in corporations primarily based exterior of their metro space, demonstrating their vital position in fueling development and innovation past their very own areas.
Diversification of Funding Portfolios
Secondary cities will not be solely attracting investments but in addition fueling funding in different markets. These cities are diversifying their portfolios and collaborating in international innovation ecosystems, fostering collaboration and information change.
Alternatives for B2B Startup Enlargement and Collaboration
Secondary cities supply distinctive alternatives for B2B startups and traders to broaden their attain, faucet into new markets and forge strategic partnerships. By benefiting from the strengths of secondary cities’ ecosystems, companies can entry expertise, capital and assets important for scaling their operations and driving sustainable development.
Collaborative Ecosystems Drive Progress
Cities resembling Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Austin reveal the facility of collaborative ecosystems, the place startups, traders, tutorial establishments and authorities our bodies work collectively to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. These cities function fashions for constructing inclusive and supportive environments conducive to B2B SaaS funding and development.
Startups in Secondary Cities Entice Vital Funding
Startups in secondary cities obtained over $15 billion in investments in 2023.
The highest secondary cities/metro areas that obtained essentially the most funding {dollars} in 2023:
| RANK | CITY/METRO AREA | FUNDING AMOUNT |
| 1 | Austin-Spherical Rock-San Marcos, TX | $2.5 billion |
| 2 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $2.2 billion |
| 3 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $1.9 billion |
| 4 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $1.2 billion |
| 5 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Seaside, FL | $864 million |
| 6 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $622 million |
| 7 | Dallas-Fort Price-Arlington, TX | $593 million |
| 8 | Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | $522 million |
| 9 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $454 million |
| 10 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $434 million |
Startups within the Austin, Seattle and Washington D.C. metro areas garnered loads of curiosity from traders final yr. A mixture of elements possible led to this funding increase: financial incentives and tax advantages, entry to cutting-edge analysis and growth services and high quality of life and value of dwelling benefits
The recipe for fulfillment was completely different for every metropolis, nonetheless. Austin’s sturdy tech ecosystem and ample expertise pool possible spurred the expansion of its startups. The Seattle metro space can possible level to contributions from tech giants resembling Microsoft and Amazon, who each maintain a big presence within the metropolis (and thus entice additional innovation). Washington, D.C.’s success is probably going tied to its proximity to political and regulatory facilities of affect.
Secondary Cities Emerge as Investing Hubs
Traders in secondary cities invested over $62 billion in different cities in 2023.
The highest 10 secondary cities/metro areas that made essentially the most investments in 2023:
| RANK | CITY/METRO AREA | FUNDING AMOUNT |
| 1 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $8.5 billion |
| 2 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $7.9 billion |
| 3 | Austin-Spherical Rock-San Marcos, TX | $6.5 billion |
| 4 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Seaside, FL | $5.6 billion |
| 5 | Dallas-Fort Price-Arlington, TX | $4.1 billion |
| 6 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $3.7 billion |
| 7 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $2.8 billion |
| 8 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $2 billion |
| 9 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $1.8 billion |
| 10 | Pittsburgh, PA | $1.4 billion |
As soon as once more, the trio of the Seattle, Washington D.C. and Austin metro areas proved their significance throughout the fundraising panorama. Thriving tech ecosystems in Seattle and Austin possible spurred funding for the enterprise capital communities, whereas Washington D.C. benefited from federal and personal sector funding sources.
These spectacular numbers showcase the strategic significance of those cities in fueling development and innovation past their areas. Funding {dollars} from secondary cities play a big position in job creation, financial development and tech innovation past their metropolis borders.
Key Markets Lead the Means
The highest markets in secondary cities that obtained funding in 2023:
| RANK | MARKET | TOTAL INVESTMENTS | NUMBER OF INVESTMENTS |
| 1 | SaaS/Software program | $1.79 billion | 167 |
| 2 | Healthcare | $715 million | 54 |
| 3 | Cyber | $650 million | 10 |
| 4 | autonomous autos | $569 million | 5 |
| 5 | info know-how | $442 million | 28 |
| 6 | aerospace | $433 million | 5 |
| 7 | biotechnology | $408 million | 11 |
| 8 | AI | $226 million | 16 |
| 9 | monetary companies | $198 million | 4 |
| 10 | manufacturing | $191 million | 12 |
| 11 | industrial | $121 million | 3 |
| 12 | digital actuality | $86 million | 3 |
| 13 | FS | $58 million | 5 |
| 14 | worker advantages | $30 million | 3 |
| 15 | air pollution management | $29 million | 3 |
| 16 | Misc. | $7 million | 4 |
Startups within the software program and SaaS markets naturally performed a big position in fundraising actions in secondary cities final yr. A increase within the AI business was additionally noticeable, as corporations pilot extra improvements on this area.
York IE has lengthy supported B2B SaaS and Vertical SaaS corporations in secondary markets, together with the next portfolio corporations:
- 40GRID: Portland, ME
- Creatively Centered: St. Paul, MN
- Cognitive Area: Houston, TX
- Datanomix: Nashua, NH
- Defendify: Portland, ME
- Finmark (acquired by Invoice): Raleigh, NC
- Klearly: Durham, NC
- Ovation: Provo, UT
- Science On Name: Chicago, IL
- Serenity Interact: Denver, CO
- Spark Your Channel (acquired by 360 Insights): Boulder, CO
- VETRO: Portland, ME
Fulcrum Fairness Companions has taken the same strategy, investing in corporations resembling:
- Digital Fingers – Tampa, FL
- Feathr – Gainesville, FL
- FieldPulse – Dallas, TX
- Florence Healthcare – Atlanta, GA
- Olio – Indianapolis, IN
- NavigatorCRE – Seattle, WA
- QASymphony (Perception Companion’s Tricentis) – Atlanta, GA
- SaaSOptics (exited to Battery Ventures) – Atlanta, GA
- Stax (exited to Higher Sum Ventures) – Orlando, FL
- Stratasan (exited to Thoma Bravo’s Syntellis) – Nashville, TN
- SureFire Native – Washington, D.C.
Wanting Forward: The Way forward for Secondary Cities
Secondary cities will proceed to form the B2B SaaS panorama.
An growth of fundraising actions will foster extra expansions and strategic partnerships and create extra assets for rising corporations. As these cities proceed to ascertain themselves, they’ll possible assist drive innovation and create new booming markets in different cities.
Innovation can occur anyplace. Which cities are subsequent?