The Progressive Policy Institute and TechNet recently published a study titled, "How the Startup Economy is Spreading Across the Country—and How it Can Be Accelerated."
Data from the study reveled Denver as a top 25 "Next in Tech" hub, at #13.
The Washington, D.C. based research institute and Microsoft Web Portal teamed up to develop a new measure of intensity of local startup ecosystems. The new index provides a broader look at the nation's startup growth, identifying cities not traditionally associated with startup or tech sectors. Though these cities are not typically thought of as startup hubs, the study cites that they "have come to embrace startup culture—and they have the jobs to show for it."
The new Startup Economy Index was calculated by taking the percentage of job postings in a given area containing the word "startup." The percentage is then divided by the median percentage found for all metro areas, normalizing the number. After measuring in both 2016 and 2017, the data was averaged out to give the final Metro Startup Index.
It was no surprise that the top 10 list included the most prominent startup hubs in the country, with San Francisco at #1 with a Metro Startup Index of 18.2. However, the study wasn't concerned with these already established hubs. The study wanted to take a closer look at the emerging startup areas and how our country could support them even further.
Read the full study here.