Seed stage is no longer a Silicon Valley experience. 60% of venture capital deals are not done on the West Coast. That number goes up when you focus on seed rounds.
According to Valor’s latest research, states like Maryland, Georgia and Arizona are outpacing California in the acceleration of seed capital deployment. So while there’s a legacy of institutional capital flowing to West Coast firms, many are not well-positioned now for the future of venture capital—at least, not if you define venture capital as the asset class that invests professionally in young companies.
Early movers like Andreessen Horowitz, Softbank and Foundry Group are canaries in the coal mine here, refocusing on being financial advisories and not tagging themselves as VC firms. This de-Valleyization is a driver in the reflow of venture capital going on right now. So where’s the next headquarters of true first-round capital? It’s up for grabs–Atlanta is definitely on the map, and it’s exciting times.
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