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.
