United States
Silicon Valley - Bay Area #1
Despite rising real estate prices and increased scrutiny, Silicon Valley remains a vibrant place for startups. In fact, the external forces acting on Silicon Valley are changing how companies develop products and manage teams.
Ecosystem by the Numbers
NUMBER OF UNICORNS
Sub-Sector Strengths
AI, Big Data & Analytics
Seven of the world’s top 10 AI investors — companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple — are based in Silicon Valley. Microsoft invested $1 billion in Open AI In 2019, Databricks raised over $650 million in two financing rounds in 2019, and Snowflake Computing, data warehousing platform raised $478M in a Series G round in March 2020.
Fintech
Drawn by the region’s strength in Fintech, global financial companies are increasing their presence in the region. JP Morgan announced plans to open a Fintech innovation hub in Silicon Valley by 2020. Stripe, a Fintech unicorn, raised $245 million in 2018, followed by a $100 million in Jan 2019 and $250 million in September 2019.
Life Sciences
Silicon Valley has a long history of innovation in Life Sciences, producing success stories such as Acerta Pharma and Vir Biotechnology. It is home to more than 1,400 Life Sciences companies employing over 82,000 people. In 2018, Grail raised $300 million in Series C funding and Allogene went public at a valuation of $2.2 billion.
Reasons to Move Your Startup to Silicon Valley - Bay Area
COVID-19 Policy
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act offers an Employee Retention Tax Credit — a refundable payroll tax credit to encourage and enable employers to keep employees on their payroll. The tax credit is equal to 50% of the first $10,000 of qualified wages that employers pay each employee.
Ranks #1 across the board
Silicon Valley top in most startup Sub-Sector rankings from AI, to Robotics, to Life Sciences. It is the world’s main unicorn factory, producing more than 96 through December 2019.
World-class resources
Startups have access to talent (Stanford University, UC Berkeley and USCF), capital, plus numerous investors and mentors.
Selected Startup Organizations
Engine
GSV
Manos Accelerator
Parisoma
Rocketspace
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