New report crowns the ‘Silicon Prairie’ capital
August 3, 2015 | Bobby Burch
The Windy City was again named the capital of the so-called Silicon Prairie region.
Chicago ranked No. 7 in the 2015 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking, a report compiled by market research firm Compass. The United States dominated the list, which crowned Silicon Valley as No. 1, followed by New York City, Los Angeles and Boston, respectively.
The report analyzes such data as a metro’s investment performance and exit valuations, venture capital investments, tech talent availability and cost, international market reach and local gross domestic product.
Kansas City, and other cities in the Silicon Prairie, failed to enter the rankings. The prairie refers to several states in the Midwest region, including Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. A few notable startup ecosystems in the prairie include Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Omaha, Lincoln, Fargo and Des Moines.
Chicago snagging the Silicon Prairie’s crown should come as no surprise. The city’s metro population — more than 9.8 million people — tops all of the aforementioned cities’ populations combined.
Chicago jumped from No. 10 in 2012 to now No. 7, earning high marks for its market reach and startups that have surpassed $1 billion valuations. The report estimates that Chicago is home to 1,800 – 3,000 active tech startups and Chicago now has more than 40,000 tech jobs, 15,000 of which have been created in just the last four years.
International startup ecosystems that ranked in the report included No. 5 Tel Aviv, No. 6 London, No. 9 Berlin and No. 10 Singapore. To read the report, click here.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Una Mas Empanadas folds authentic Argentinian flavors into new restaurant spot at Parlor
Expanding Silvia Herrera’s business from a food truck in Gardner to one of Kansas City’s most active and eclectic food hubs brings the Buenos Aires-born entrepreneur — and her grandmother’s 50-year-old handcrafted empanada recipe — to an even wider, more diverse audience, she said. “Our empanadas are more than just food,” Herrera said. “They represent…
It’s not too late to preserve KC’s Black-owned restaurants (or to enjoy Black Feast Week)
The recent closures of Soiree, The Krave, and Privee — Black-owned restaurants that each became a staple of Kansas City’s evolving food scene — leave a clear void that can’t be ignored, said Ryan Sorrell. An initiative to help save local culinary should-be hotspots in similar danger wraps this week, but the work to promote and…
Ancestry.com founder-turned-AI evangelist says rapidly advancing tech can uplift humanity, families
People across the globe are caught in an internet malaise, said Paul Allen, and tech visionaries’ response should be to renew humans’ dependence on faith and family and friendship and local community. One of their most critical tools, he said: decidedly non-human solutions from the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. Allen — founder of…
KC filmmaker sees pleasure as a prequel to dystopia hiding ‘In Plain Sight’; His brave new wake-up call
Thomas Rex’s new proof-of-concept film project envisions a near-future world where society is on the verge of totalitarian control, he said, describing a cautionary tale about being unknowingly controlled by a culture of escapism through pleasure and pharmaceuticals. “In Plain Sight” serves as a prelude to Aldous Huxley’s novel “Brave New World,” an acclaimed but…