Although Silicon Valley and New England still lead in the overall rankings, New York City is shaping up as the fastest growing region for venture capital jobs and investments, notes Bloomberg.
Figures from the National Venture Capital Association show that there were 350 venture investments totaling $1.88 billion in the Big Apple in 2010, a whopping 38% increase from the previous year.
“You have the basic building blocks for entrepreneurial activity,” according to Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA, who’s quoted in the article. “Good lawyers, good accountants, office space. You have a lifestyle entrepreneurs like. The culture, the education levels. All of those things have come together.”
In addition, the tighter job market created by the financial crisis has made it harder for graduates and younger workers to find high-end jobs in finance and business. Leading many of them to choose to start their own business, rather than keep hunting for a job.
There is also a crop of entrepreneurs in New York that have launched successful companies, and who now want to share their knowledge with others. One of them is Brian Hirsch, co-founder of GSA Venture Partners, a venture-capital firm based in New York that focuses on investments in early stage startups.
“The New York area in general is going through an innovation renaissance,” says Hirsch. “When it comes to technology, you’re seeing revolutionary changes to a lot of the major industries that are based in the city: financial services or the media business, changes in publishing. Pretty much any major industry that would be based in New York, which has had a big impact on the economy, is being turned upside down.”
There is also an influx of seed capital in New York that makes it easier for early-stage companies to get a few hundred thousand dollars in initial capital. However, supporters of the New York venture capital renaissance are still looking for that one, big “transformational” success story, like a Google, Facebook or Amazon, to give the current trend greater credibility.
How about you? Are you involved with the venture capital industry in the New York area? What changes do you see? Add your comments below.
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