While Massachusetts and Texas saw declines in startup funding, other states like New York, North Carolina, and Florida had relatively flat funding. The largest share of investors' money is still spent in Northern California, highlighting the difficulty of growing a new tech hub. Despite enthusiasm for emerging startup hubs, the combination of deep-tech talent, strong networks, rich capital resources, and powerhouse universities in Northern California remains unrivaled in its ability to scale transformative startups.
Key takeaways:
- U.S. venture funding has increased in 2024, with California seeing the largest rise in total investment, largely due to the boom in AI investment.
- Startups in Massachusetts have seen a decline in funding, pulling in just over $10.7 billion in 2024, which is significantly behind the previous year's pace.
- States with heavily funded generative AI startups, such as New Jersey, have seen an increase in funding, with AI cloud infrastructure company CoreWeave raising a $1.1 billion Series C in May.
- Despite enthusiasm for emerging startup hubs, Northern California's combination of deep-tech talent, strong networks, capital resources, and top universities remains unrivaled in its ability to scale transformative startups.