America's Mighty
Middle Report
Investment trends in America's heartland show that valuable, high-growth companies can be built outside of traditional tech hubs.
What's Inside
The Decade's Largest Exits
See which large technology exits happened outside of the most well-known startup ecosystems.
Mighty Middle vs. Coastal Average Seed Round
Compare seed rounds between the Mighty Middle and traditional coastal tech hubs.
Invested Dollars by State
We rank the top 15 Mighty Middle states by invested dollar volume. See who tops the list.
Decade of Venture Investments in the Mighty Middle
Total venture capital investment deployed into the Mighty Middle over the past decade was $92.6 billion.
Venture capital investment into the Mighty Middle increased 247 percent over the past decade, from $5.8 billion in 2010 to $20.2 billion in 2019.
Top 15 States in the Mighty Middle
Across the Mighty Middle, companies in the metro areas or cities of Greater Chicago, Austin, Greater Denver (which includes Boulder), Pittsburgh, Greater Dallas and Greater Minneapolis raised the most venture capital dollars over the past decade.
Three areas saw startups raise more than $1 billion in seed capital over the last decade: Austin, Greater Denver (including Boulder) and Greater Chicago.
Average Seed Round Size U.S. Mighty Middle vs. Coastal
While coastal seed round sizes exceed those in the Mighty Middle, both markets have seen average and median round sizes increase.
The average seed round during the decade in the Mighty Middle was $849,000, while the average coastal seed round was $1.16 million.
Comprehensive Insights on the U.S. Mighty Middle
Get key insight on:
- The decade's largest exits from Mighty Middle companies
- Total invested dollars in the U.S. Mighty Middle
- Leading metros, cities and states by investment