At Star-Up City: Miami this morning, urban affairs expert Richard Florida announced a new report, “Startup City: The Urban Shift in Venture Capital and High Technology,” released by his team at the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. It found that venture capital funded high-tech startups are increasingly located in urban centers. This represents a huge shift from the late twentieth century model of suburban campuses or nerdistans.
A companion report reveals that Miami, not a city with a notable reputation for high tech culture, has dramatically improved its ability to attract venture capital, raking in more $300 million in 2013, the 16th highest take among the 380-plus U.S. metro regions. Florida will present the findings of the report at The Atlantic’s Start-Up City: Miami, a summit exploring the urban tech revolution taking place Monday, March 31 at the New World Center. Florida is a co-founder and editor-at-large of The Atlantic Cities, and senior editor of The Atlantic. He’s also the founder of the Creative Class Group
Florida and his research team also found that the broader Southern Florida (So-Flo) mega-region, which includes Tampa and Orlando, took in a total of nearly $600 million ($150 million of it in Tampa, $75 million in Orlando), placing it among the top dozen venture capital regions in the United States, roughly comparable to Greater Chicago.
Although there is still work to do, “the most surprising finding is that South Florida and Miami are emerging as a tech hub,” said Richard Florida. “The Creative Class and specifically the technology industry follows the talent, and techies and entrepreneurs are increasingly choosing to live in denser, livelier, more diverse locations like Miami.” He said he and his team will continue to monitor South Florida's progress.
Other key findings include:
- * Across the region, Boca Raton accounts for the largest share of venture capital, more than $120 million ($93 million went to a single company, OpenPeak, an enterprise software developer).
- * Coconut Grove accounted for $65 million, Hollywood’s take was $30 million, and Miami Airport’s take was almost $40 million.
- * Within Miami itself, Coconut Grove was the leading neighborhood, followed by the Airport, and then Miami Beach ($7 million), South Brickell ($3.6 million), Edgewater/Morningside ($1.9 million) and North Brickell/Downtown ($1.4 million).
- * The location of venture capital investment is increasingly shifting from suburbs to urban centers. Downtown San Francisco is now receiving more venture funding than Silicon Valley.
The full report, along with the Startup City briefing for Miami, can be downloaded at www.martinprosperity.org.