Thursday, January 06, 2011
Posted by
Cathy Belk
PEHub’s recent article ‘Midwest Predicted To Be Fastest Growing Venture Market in 2011’ featured stats from three national databases as well as commentary from Koleman Karleski (Managing Director at Chrysalis Ventures), and JumpStart’s Ray Leach. Highlights from the story offer the compelling reasons the Midwest is poised to be the fastest growing venture market in 2011:
- Many regions of the country still struggle to top weakened 2009 investment totals, Silicon Valley included. But Midwest venture, known for its healthcare focus and now its fledgling commitment to cleantech, passed the mark with its third quarter numbers.
- As of September, the region’s GPs placed $818 million with emerging companies, comfortably above the $778 million of 2009. With a steady fourth quarter, the year could near the 2008 total of $1.27 billion.
“With portions of the Great Lakes region seeing investment dollars doubling or even tripling this year over last, the Midwest will emerge in 2011 as the fastest-growing U.S. market for VC due to the capital efficiency of the companies, the transformative biomedical and cleantech technologies, and the thriving pipeline of early-stage companies that are ready for growth capital.”
-- Ray Leach, CEO of JumpStart Inc.
"In 2011, I believe the Midwest and South will continue to be excellent regions for entrepreneurs to build scalable, profitable businesses. This geography is under-ventured, but its ecosystems spawn and support the kinds of assets you need to build successful businesses, including a large, tenacious entrepreneurial talent pool, exceptional colleges and universities, and a host of established large companies whose challenges become opportunities for the next generation of venture backed companies.”
-- Koleman Karleski, Managing Director at Chrysalis Ventures
Read the full article.
Cathy Belk is the Chief Relationship Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business and relationship management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.