Normally, you’d think the best place to build/launch a tech startup would be San Francisco or NY, right? These are the “hubs” of the startup scene; they have the resources, the talent, and the ecosystem, right? Wrong! I’d argue there are better cities to be located in since overhead and talent will be cheaper. Here’s a list of the top 10 fastest growing startup scenes in the US right now and a cool startup to watch in each.
- St. Louis, MO: 342.70% deal growth in 2015, 33.02% average growth since 2012.
Company to watch: GeoNumerical Solutions- a startup that helps clients understand and predict underground responses to subsurface activities through simulation and analysis. The company is led by founder and President Scott Johnson and is based in the Downtown T-REX incubator.
- Salt Lake City, UT: 113.27% deal growth in 2015, 27.52% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: Connexion Point- this 4 year old companies creates programs that help health plans and providers communicate with members & prospects about health care choices, benefits, conditions, and enrollment options. In a few years they’ve grown from 4 people to over 1,200.
- Seattle, WA: 110.40% deal growth in 2015, 26.37% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: Simply Measured- a social media analytics service that increased its revenue to $12.6 million in 2014, up nearly 1,300 percent since 2011.
- Raleigh, NC: 110.28% deal growth in 2015, 26.29% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: Adwerx- Brilliantly simples online advertising for industry specific verticals (real estate, lending, and insurance)
- Boulder, CO: 94.20% deal growth in 2015, 22.79% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: LogRhythm- is a security intelligence software company to neutralize cyber threats. They’re like M16 for a digital James Bond.
- Nashville, TN: 80.75% deal growth in 2015, 21.49% growth since 2012
Company to watch, InQuicker- they work with hundreds of health-care providers nation-wide to provide a cloud-based, online patient self-scheduling system. The aim: To minimize the amount of time patients spend in waiting rooms. Headed by CEO and co-founder Michael Brody-Waite, InQuicker has grown is annual revenue by more than 1,500 percent between fiscal years 2010 and 2013, bringing in $5.2 million in sales last year alone.
- Austin, TX: 63.73% deal growth in 2015, 21.46% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: APPSUMO- here’s their tagline: “We promote great products to help you kickass at work”- it’s basically a deal website for SAAS products.
- Washington, DC: 38.16% deal growth in 2015, 21.31% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: Quorum Analytics- Led by an eloquent group of recent Harvard graduates, the startup’s co-founders Alex Wirth and Jonathan Marks have masterfully pushed a public outreach strategy by gaining attention from a long list of news publication. Heading into 2016, the company will look to upend D.C. rival, FiscalNote, to become the city’s flagship legislative data analytics and aggregation software platform.
- Dallas, TX: 37.09% deal growth in 2015, 18.83% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: FanPrint- is a Dallas-based eCommerce site for soft-apparel, licensed by the NFL Player’s Association, NHL Player’s Association, and MLB Player’s Association. Three-time Super Bowl Champion, five-time Pro Bowler and ESPN NFL analyst, Darren Woodson, is the company’s Director of Business Development & a founding investor.
- Kansas City, MO: 31.56% deal growth in 2015, 9.61% average growth since 2012
Company to watch: Bloom Leawood-based Blooom is a financial tech firm where users grow their 401(k)s using the company’s proprietary online tool.The tool analyzes the user’s 401(k) and shows its health through a flower in various growth stages, then offers professional advice on how to allocate funds.