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.
New York, U.S.A.
Media • Education • Retail (& E-Commerce) • Gaming (& eSports) • Advertising • Online Social
Joe Medved serves as Partner, SoftBank Capital at Lerer Hippeau Ventures. He served as Partner at SoftBank Capital. Joe joined SoftBank Capital in 2005 and has been investing in digital media companies for over nine years, from seed through growth stage. He focuses on supporting primarily Seed and Series A stage companies with special interests including consumer and enterprise mobile, gaming, and social marketing. Prior to joining SoftBank Capital, Joe was an Associate with Constellation Ventures, a media and communications venture capital fund under Bear Stearns Asset Management. Prior to Constellation Ventures, he was an Associate and Analyst for the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group with JPMorgan Investment Banking. In 2011, Joe was selected by the Boston Business Journal for its 40 Under 40 class. He is Co-Founder of the Digital Media VC/Corp Dev Connection, a group that brings together active investors and corporate development professionals from large corporations focused on digital media. Joe is also Chairman Emeritus of the New England Venture Network (NEVN), one of the largest venture capital organizations on the East Coast. Joe received a Bachelor of Science, with honors, from Boston College's Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, and completed The General Course at the London School of Economics.
Los Angeles - San Francisco Bay Area - New York - California, U.S.A. - Canada
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Education • FinTech (& Financials services) • Retail (& E-Commerce) • Entertainment (& Sports) • CleanTech • A.I. (& Big Data) • Gaming (& eSports) • Future Of Work • Online Social • Consumer
Founding Partner at Forecast Fund
Most Interested In
Current portfolio: Away Luggage, Unmute, Shine Text, Poncho, MealPal, Kang Health
Principal @ Comcast Ventures. Lead CV's NYC seed practice. Formerly: Founder @ FashionStake, Product @ Fab.com, Consultant @ BCG, Author @ HBR.
San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A.
PropTech • Hospitality (& Events) • Education • Energy • IoT (& Wearables) • Food & Beverage • GovTech • Real Estate (& Construction) • Mobility
Most Interested In
Startups shaping the future of cities. Investing at the pre-seed & seed in a variety of verticals, including: - Transportation - Future of work - Real estate tech - Energy & water - Business & fintech services - Food - Health & public safety - Govt & civic tech - Arts & recreation
Julie is a co-founder and Managing Partner of the Urban Innovation Fund. The Urban Innovation Fund is a venture capital firm that invests in transformative urban technology. It provides seed capital and regulatory expertise to entrepreneurs solving our toughest urban challenges – helping them grow into tomorrow’s most valued companies. Previously, Julie co-founded Tumml, an urban ventures accelerator. During the last three years, Tumml has incubated 33 startups, who have raised $37M+ in funding and launched products/ services for over 2.2M people. Her work in urban entrepreneurship has been featured in numerous press outlets, including CNN, TedX, Forbes, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among others. Julie has an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BA from Stanford.
New York - San Francisco Bay Area - Denver - Detroit - Austin - Boston - Los Angeles - Chicago - Illinois, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Education • FinTech (& Financials services) • Retail (& E-Commerce) • Cosmetics (& Fashion) • Entertainment (& Sports) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Food & Beverage • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Online Social • Consumer
Partner, Listen Ventures
Most Interested In
All things consumer. Products, services, marketplaces, platforms.
Not Interested In
Any business where a company does not have a direct relationship with the ultimate end user.
Investing in brands @listen-ventures-1. Building startups @dashfire.
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A.
Education • Retail (& E-Commerce) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Advertising • Analytics • Payments • Robotics • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Online Social • Consumer
Daniel Darling is the Founder and serves as a Managing Director at Darling Ventures. He serves as a board member at AppVision and Human. He has more than 7 years of background in product and market strategy for mobile and adtech companies in the US, Australia and Japan. Daniel started his career in digital advertising and moved progressively into mobile product development before launching Darling Ventures in 2013. He has founded companies, grown startups to acquisition and led product innovation at public technology corporations. He is a specialist in business strategy and bringing products to market for mobile technology companies. Daniel has a degree in Economics and Social Sciences form The University of Sydney as well as executive education from both Berkeley HAAS and Stanford GSB.
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.
Los Angeles - New York - London - San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - U.K.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • PropTech • Education • Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • Retail (& E-Commerce) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Developer tools • Real Estate (& Construction) • Consumer
Most Interested In
Later stage investments
Palo Alto - California, U.S.A.
Education • A.I. (& Big Data) • Human Resources • Impact
General Partner at Reach Capital
General Partner in Reach Capital (an early stage venture fund for edtech startups). Started in edtech industry in 2013 as Executive Director of co.lab, an accelerator for ed-tech startups leveraging the power of games to improve educational outcomes
Former co-founder and CEO of social game developer Atakama Labs. Based in San Francisco and Santiago, Chile. Developing next generation social games on mobile platforms.
Acquired in Oct 2011 by the DeNA Group (TYO:2432). After acquisition I became VP at DeNA with roles in Studios, corporate development and as Head of Alliances.
Previously co-founder and CEO of Wanako Games, a console, PC and online videogame development company that pioneered in leveraging Latin American talent for the design and production of videogames. Wanako earned numerous awards including Game of the Year 2006 for Xbox Live by IGN.com.
After Wanako was acquired by Vivendi Inc (Paris: VIV) in December 2006, I was VP of Business Development at Sierra Online.
Previous to Wanako I had worked in the VC, Private Equity and Investment Banking industries.
New York, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • PropTech • Education • Businesses Solutions • Retail (& E-Commerce) • Cosmetics (& Fashion) • A.I. (& Big Data) • Advertising • Analytics • Real Estate (& Construction)
Co-Founder and Partner at MetaProp.vc
Zachary Aarons is a Co-Founder and serves as General Partner at MetaProp NYC. Zach Aarons has been working at the intersection of real estate and venture capital for the past decade. Zach is the most active early-stage PropTech investor in the United States, having funded over 60 startups in the space as an individual as well as 40 startups (and counting) through MetaProp NYC's venture capital funds. In addition to early-stage investing, Zach has worked on large scale mixed-use development projects in cities like Boston and Los Angeles with Millennium Partners. He has experience with real estate development, commercial asset management, property marketing, and commercial leasing. Prior to joining Millennium and founding MetaProp NYC, Zach was a Senior Associate at ENIAC Ventures, a seed-stage mobile technology fund and the founder of Travelgoat, an online and offline walking tour business. He began his career as an analyst at boutique investment bank Peter J. Solomon Company. Outside of work, Zach currently serves on the Board of Trustees of The Tenement Museum. Zach is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He serves on the Technology Committee for the Real Estate Board of New York and the Technology and Real Estate Council for the Urban Land Institute. Previously, Zach was the Treasurer of the Board of Directors for The Lowline and Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with an A.B. from Brown University in Ancient Studies and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School. Zach has been featured in dozens of international publications and media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Real Deal, Curbed, Commercial Observer, Propmodo, The Information, TechCrunch, Bisnow, Forbes, The Real Estate Weekly, Crain's, and Cheddar. He is a frequent speaker at global PropTech events including the Urban Land Institute, MIPIM, Realcomm, Argus Connect, SuperReturn International, and the Columbia/Goodwin Real Estate Capital Markets Conference.
Boston / New, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Education • Consumer
Co-Founder & President at XR Terra
Hakan Satiroglu is a Co-Founder and serves as Partner & Board Member at LearnLaunch. Satiroglu is also a Co-Founder and serves as a Board Member of TeachersConnect. He is an entrepreneur and seasoned executive focused on the transition of business models and processes in the digital age. His expertise includes go-to-market strategy, market positioning, sales channel development, technology product development, building and nurturing productive teams, and new business development. He is an angel investor and an active mentor for startups and entrepreneurs in the Boston area. In 2004, he founded Xplana Learning, a social learning network that is paving the way for how learning will be enabled in the 21st century. Xplana Learning is the leading personal learning environment that integrates local and commercially published content, student-to-student and faculty-to-student collaboration. In 2009, Xplana Learning was acquired by MBS Textbook Exchange. Subsequent to the acquisition, he shifted his focus from overseeing operations and driving sales activity to leverage publisher and institution-wide relationships. He received his BA in Finance and Accounting from Boston University.
San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Education • Businesses Solutions • Future Of Work • GovTech • Human Resources • Impact • Woman Focused
Partner at Reach Capital
Most Interested In
Applications of AI/ML to improve educational opportunity (both student-facing and back-end operational improvements)
Not Interested In
drill & kill test prep or products serving the 1%