Venture capital (VC) backed companies in America attracted record levels of investment in quarter one of 2018, according to KPMG.
The Venture Pulse Q1 2018 from KPMG shows investors ploughed $28.2 billion into VC supported businesses during this period, nearly $5 billion more than the previous record set in Q2 2016. And the money is being spread beyond the corridors of Silicon Valley to a number of buoyant markets across America.
“In the past, discussions about the VC markets have been primarily focused on the big four markets: The Bay Area, New York, Boston and LA. Now we are seeing much more diversity with cities like Seattle, Chicago, Washington DC, San Diego Austin, Philadelphia and Atlanta drawing new investments,” said Brian Hughes, national co-leader for KPMG LLP’s Venture Capital practice. “These cities have all recognised the importance of startups to their future viability and have therefore focused their attention on creating a fertile ecosystem where companies can nurture and grow. These new markets are also providing a lower cost and higher quality of life alternative.”
And Europe is also seeking to create its own ‘fertile ecosystem’ via this route, with a new multi-billion euro venture capital fund launched this week to support the growth of Europe’s startup and scaleup ecosystems.
