The United States boasts the largest and most dynamic startup ecosystem in the world, with major hubs like Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston. This ecosystem is characterized by a strong venture capital presence and a supportive culture for innovation and entrepreneurship. The U.S. continues to lead globally in technological innovation and startup activity, contributing significantly to economic growth and job creation.
As of 2024, the U.S. is home to approximately 77,927 startups. The startup ecosystem is supported by substantial venture capital investments, which totaled around $162.6 billion in 2022. This robust financial backing highlights the confidence investors have in the U.S. startup market, ensuring ample funding for innovation and growth.
Key strengths of the U.S. market include a highly skilled workforce, advanced technological infrastructure, and a culture that encourages risk-taking and entrepreneurship. The presence of major tech companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook fosters a collaborative environment and provides ample opportunities for startups. Additionally, the U.S. government offers support through various grants and tax incentives, such as the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
Silicon Valley remains the epicenter of innovation, driving advancements in AI, biotechnology, fintech, and clean energy. New York City excels in finance and media, while Boston is strong in biotechnology and education-driven startups. These regions are crucial to the U.S. startup ecosystem, offering a wealth of resources, talent, and opportunities.
Cities like Austin, Denver, and Seattle are emerging as significant tech hubs. These cities provide a favorable business climate, quality of life, and are becoming attractive locations for startups and talent. The rise of remote work has further expanded opportunities for startups to access talent from various regions, contributing to the growth of these emerging hubs.
The U.S. startup market benefits from a comprehensive support system of accelerators, incubators, and co-working spaces. Programs like Techstars and Y Combinator have been instrumental in nurturing early-stage startups, providing mentorship, resources, and funding. These support systems help startups at various stages of their journey to scale and succeed.
Despite its strengths, the U.S. startup ecosystem faces challenges such as high costs of living, regulatory hurdles, and intense competition for talent. These challenges can create barriers for new startups and require strategic navigation to ensure long-term success.
The U.S. startup market features a diverse customer base and a culture that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. The rise of remote work has expanded opportunities, allowing startups to access talent from various regions. The future outlook remains positive with continuous growth and innovation, driven by emerging technologies such as blockchain, quantum computing, and green energy.
The U.S. startup ecosystem is characterized by its resilience and adaptability. Despite challenges, the ecosystem continues to evolve, driven by a strong culture of entrepreneurship and technological advancements. This ensures the U.S. remains at the forefront of global innovation, contributing significantly to economic growth and job creation.
London - San Francisco Bay Area - New York - City - Sao Paulo - California, U.S.A. - U.K. - Brazil - France - Mexico
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • PropTech • Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • A.I. (& Big Data) • Developer tools • Future Of Work • Insurance (& InsurTech) • Payments • Real Estate (& Construction) • Woman Focused
Most Interested In
Passionate about next generation marketplaces & technically minded founders that have strong intuition about markets & customers. AI and crazy ideas.
Not Interested In
Well if it doesn't have or aspire to have a network effect, then probably not a fit... Very very selective when looking at opportunities that are not based in the Bay Area - we can be more helpful when teams are near us.
Pete Flint serves as Managing Partner at NFX. The co-founder of Trulia, Pete is a serial entrepreneur who built one of today's most successful marketplaces. As CEO, Pete led the company from inception to one of the largest and fastest growing real estate websites in the U.S. with more than 50 million monthly unique users and a merger with Zillow in 2015 that valued Trulia at $3.5 billion. Prior to starting Trulia, Pete was part of the founding team of lastminute.com, a leading European online travel site that was acquired in 2005 by Travelocity / Sabre Holdings for over $1 billion. These experiences gave Pete a rarely acquired understanding of what it takes to scale a company from a great idea to a $1 billion+ exit, all from a founder's perspective.
Palo Alto - California, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Sales (& Marketing) • IoT (& Wearables) • CleanTech • A.I. (& Big Data) • Web Security (& Privacy) • Gaming (& eSports) • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools • Woman Focused
Ullas Naik is the Founder and serves as General Partner at Streamlined Ventures. Naik founded Streamlined Ventures with a vision of building a thought leading investment platform rooted in the philosophical belief that founders of companies are the true heroes of entrepreneurial value creation in our society. Streamlined Ventures invests in and supports visionary founders working on transformational application and business infrastructure software companies for the Mobile Web, Social Web, Web and Enterprise markets. Ullas is a seasoned venture capitalist, angel investor and entrepreneur with over two decades of entrepreneurial and early stage investment experience across 300 companies. Prior to founding Streamlined Ventures, he co-founded investment firm Cota Capital. Prior to that, Ullas was a senior member of the investment team for 12 years at Globespan Capital and helped build the firm. He has also been an active angel investor over the last 21 years during which he invested in over 60 companies spanning Internet 1.0, Web 2.0, mobile web, social web, enterprise computing as well as disruptive technologies in other domains such as robotics and wearable computing. Before his institutional investing career Ullas was a top ranked Wall Street research analyst at FAC Equities/First Albany. He was recognized by the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Magazine as a Wall Street All Star. Prior to that, Ullas received an MBA degree after starting a chemicals trading business in India. He also has a bachelor's degree in organic chemistry. He is also an Angel Investor.
San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • BioTech • FinTech (& Financials services) • Developer tools
Hunter Walk is a Co-Founder and serves as a Partner at Homebrew. He served as Board Member Shyp. He also serves as an Advisor at Resolute Ventures. Prior to Homebrew, Hunter was VP of Product at Twitter, building and leading the Product Management and User Services tea Before Twitter, he was a Partner at Battery Ventures, where he co-led the seed and early stage investing practices. He joined Google in 2003 and was responsible for AdSense product management and partnerships. Before heading to Silicon Valley for Google, he worked for DoubleClick, in venture capital and as a strategy consultant. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in History from Vassar College.
San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A.
Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • Retail (& E-Commerce) • Web Security (& Privacy) • Advertising • Developer tools • Insurance (& InsurTech) • Local commerce • Payments
Most Interested In
Interested in technology-based, digital innovations that will help shape the future of Retail and Financial Services.
Founding GP at @commerce-ventures. Formerly at Highland Capital. Focus on Mobile, Commerce, Payments, Retail.
San Francisco Bay Area - Menlo Park - California, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Businesses Solutions • Retail (& E-Commerce) • Gaming (& eSports) • Advertising • Analytics • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools • Local commerce • Payments • Online Social
Most Interested In
XG Ventures® is focused primarily on the consumer internet, including the mobile, video, gaming, social media, and online media sectors.
Not Interested In
healthcare
Cambridge - Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Blockchain (& Cryptos) • Analytics • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools • Consumer
Most Interested In
API E-Commerce Enterprise Gaming Health and Wellness Healthcare/Medtech Internet and Mobile Marketplace Productivity
Not Interested In
We are not a thesis driven firm. Show us why what you're building is a compelling opportunity for us and let's talk.
Vancouver - BC, U.S.A. - Canada
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Education • Businesses Solutions • Energy • Blockchain (& Cryptos) • Developer tools • Online Social • Woman Focused
Most Interested In
Blockchain, VR / AR, genomics, AI / ML
Not Interested In
Gaming, content / media, commerce / retail
Palo Alto - California, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Businesses Solutions • Hardware (& Manufacturing) • A.I. (& Big Data) • Web Security (& Privacy) • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools • Mobility
Most Interested In
Fun SaaS, particularly with a defensible barrier to entry that is technical. Some infrastructure software & hardware. IoT for consumers and enterprises.
Not Interested In
We don't make consumer (B2C) or crypto investments, sorry.
Jonathan Heiliger serves as Partner at Vertex Ventures US. He is a Board Member at LaunchDarkly. Most recently, he was a General Partner with North Bridge Venture Partners, from April 2012 to November 2014. During his tenure, he started the seed practice and led investments in Lytro, Periscope.io, Quora, and Ravel Law. Prior to NBVP, Jonathan worked at Facebook, where he led global infrastructure, site architecture and internal systems as VP Infrastructure & Technical Operations, from 2007 until 2011. During that time Facebook grew from 35 million to over 800 million users. Before that, Jonathan held executive engineering roles at Wal-Mart and Danger (acquired by Microsoft). He also spent several years as Chief Operating Officer for Loudcloud (which became Opsware and was later acquired by HP). Earlier in his career, Jonathan co-founded and was CTO of GlobalCenter, and later founded Global Crossing's venture capital group. Jonathan currently serves on the board of directors of DuPont Fabros (DFT), Jive Software (JIVE), and Webmonsters. He also co-founded Coolan and served as an Advisor.
Boston - Palo Alto - Austin - Los Angeles - Seattle - New York - San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - Japan
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Gaming (& eSports) • Developer tools • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Nanotechnology • Consumer
Investing in AR/VR/Computer Vision @ Presence Capital
Most Interested In
Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Computer Vision
Not Interested In
AdTech, Pure gaming plays, Mobile Gaming
Amitt Mahajan is a Co-Founder and serves as Chief Technology Officer at Rare Bits. He is also a Co-Founder and serves as the Managing Partner at Presence Capital. He is a Co-Founder and serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Rare Bits. He serves as an Advisor at SignalFire. He is the Founder and C.E.O of Toro. Prior to that, he served as the Director of Engineering for Zynga. Amitt was also the Co-Founder and C.T.O of MyMiniLife, Inc which was later acquired by Zynga. Mahajan is also the Co-Founder of Red Hot Labs and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Prior to this, he was an Engineer in Zynga who helped in creating FarmVille. He briefly served as a Programmer for Epic Games. He has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from University of Illinois.
San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Media • Education • Businesses Solutions • A.I. (& Big Data) • Analytics • Developer tools • Future Of Work • Logistics (& Distribution)
Head of Bloomberg Beta, a new thing. Chairman of OUYA, also new :)
Obsessed with how we make work -- the thing we do with more waking hours than any other -- better. To do that, I prioritize job one: husband (2007 - Present) and father (2008 - Present, promoted to father of two in 2011). I tried writing my LinkedIn to be honest to both my successes and the other stuff -- so you can understand me better than the camera only showed my good side. If that means you'd rather not work with me, let's be grateful we learned that now! (The only important thing that hit the cutting room floor is the long list of side projects half started, started and abandoned, or started only in my imagination.) I've had a messy, hand-wringy career (in non-profit, professional services, city government, big media, video games, academia, day-zero startup, investing), where I was never hired for any job for which I was qualified (including starting a company, where I guess I sort of co-hired myself and was still unqualified). Only later did I realize the one thread that tied it all together -- making work better. In 2013, Bloomberg L.P. gave me the opportunity to turn my obsession with the future of work into my job when we created Bloomberg Beta. I believe the fastest way to make change is to build extraordinary technology companies (and, these days, machine intelligence companies in particular). To keep learning, I teach a course in media at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and serve on the boards of a non-profit (the Center for Investigative Reporting). If you've read to this point (thank you!), and want to connect on LinkedIn, I usually use connections on LinkedIn for references -- so if we have yet to interact, better to just email me. (roy at bloombergbeta dot com) And last: I type 88 wpm. I play Werewolf. Never at the same time. Yet. I'm unsure if I know enough to give, or even believe in, advice, if you're tempted to ask for any.
San Francisco Bay Area - Boston / New - Chicago - Atlanta - Salt Lake City - Seattle / Portland - Austin - Palo Alto - California, U.S.A. - Canada
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Hardware (& Manufacturing) • IoT (& Wearables) • A.I. (& Big Data) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools • Woman Focused
Most Interested In
Saas/B2B/Enterprise Software, Connected Devices (consumer and industrial), B2B/B2C Marketplaces,... and then what other people consider crazy in frontier tech: AI, AR/VR, SpaceTech, Robotics, Autonomous infrastructure,..
Not Interested In
Pureplay consumer apps that may never build a business, gaming, e-commerce, travel, crypto