Mar 20, 2018

The U.S. metro area with the biggest VC returns isn't Silicon Valley

A view of Chicago's skyline at sunset from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Observatory. Photo: Getty

While startups around Silicon Valley get the most venture capital funding, the biggest returns for investors come from companies in the Chicago metropolitan area — with an 8.5x return during 2010-2017, per Pitchbook. The Bay Area netted returns between 4.2x and 4.6x during that same period.

Why it matters: This is a win for proponents of spreading venture investing outside of Silicon Valley.

The cities with the most VC investment:

  1. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward: $144.3 billion
  2. New York-Newark-Jersey City: $54.5 billion
  3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara: $52.8 billion
  4. Boston-Cambridge-Newton: $45 billion
  5. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim: $29.3 billion

The cities with the biggest VC returns:

  1. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin: 8.5x
  2. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue: 5.9x
  3. New York-Newark-Jersey City: 4.8x
  4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim: 4.7x
  5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington: 4.7x

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 29 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 8 a.m. ET: 12,520,431 — Total deaths: 560,830 — Total recoveries — 6,900,718 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 8 a.m. ET: 3,184,722 — Total deaths: 134,830 — Total recoveries: 983,185 — Total tested: 38,856,341 — Map.
  3. Public health: The reality of the coronavirus bites.
  4. Trade: Trump says he's no longer considering phase-two trade deal with China because the pandemic damaged the two countries' relationship.
  5. 🎧 Podcast: Rural America has its own coronavirus problem.
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Sam Baker
2 hours ago - Health

We're losing the war on the coronavirus

Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

By any standard, no matter how you look at it, the U.S. is losing its war against the coronavirus.

Why it matters: The pandemic is not an abstraction, and it is not something that’s simmering in the background. It is an ongoing emergency ravaging nearly the entire country, with a loss of life equivalent to a Sept. 11 every three days — for four months and counting.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Jacob Knutson
13 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Trump commutes Roger Stone's sentence

Roger Stone arriving at his sentencing hearing on Feb. 20. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Trump on Friday evening commuted the sentence of his longtime associate Roger Stone, according to two senior administration officials. Stone in February was sentenced to 40 months in prison for crimes including obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress.

Why it matters: The controversial move brings an abrupt end to the possibility of Stone spending time behind bars. He had been scheduled to report to prison on July 14.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow