The amount of money being invested in startup businesses in upstate New York is increasing, but that doesn’t mean starting a business here is suddenly easy.
Upstate Venture Associates of New York, or UVANY, a startup business investment firm, found that nearly twice as much money came into upstate New York in the third quarter of last year, in comparison to the year before. There were 29 deals that quarter, worth $75.86 million. That's up from 16 deals worth $40.56 in the fourth quarter of 2012, UVANY found.
Numbers crunched by the Albany Business Review found the amount of capital coming in rose to $104 million – thanks largely to some big deals for Capital Region startups.
UVANY’s executive director, Sam Ticknor, says the firm’s seeing more New York-based venture capital funds, "...and we see funds that are based in the Midwest that are making their first calls in upstate New York, versus New York City," he said.
"There is more money than ever in upstate New York, but nothing comes easy, either. You can’t make the representation that it’s easy times because raising venture capital is always a very difficult effort," he said.
Ticknor says upstate still trails New York City and Silicon Valley.
More mentorship opportunities and startup competitions are helping to fuel the attention and quality of new businesses.
"With all the universities, particularly, and the growth of the incubators and accelerators. There’s a lot of technology in upstate New York, so there’s a good story to be told," he said.
