NerdWallet: Four Colorado cities among nation's 'Most Innovative Tech Hubs,' 8 of Top 10 in West

By: InnovatioNews Monday February 9, 2015 0 comments Tags: Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, NerdWallet

 

COLORADO - Boulder rated No. 2 on NerdWallet's list of "America's Most Innovative Tech Hubs," with three other Colorado cities taking some of the top spots on the list released today.

"Boulder came through with the highest density of startups in our study--six times the national average," said NerdWallet. "Boulder still has a ways to go before reaching the venture capital funding levels of startups of Silicon Valley, but it ended 2014 with a strong $963.75 in funding for every 1,000 residents, the third-highest in the country."

Fort Collins placed No. 6 on the NerdWallet list with Denver placing No. 14 and Colorado Springs taking the No. 25 spot.

NerdWallet said it calculated one-third of its score for every metro area by the number of utility patents issued between 2009 and 2013 with a primary technology classification.

Another third of the score was based on venture capital funding per capita according to the National Venture Capital Association, and the final third of the score was based on tech startup density as calculated by the Kauffman Foundation.

The NerdWallet Top 10 list included:

·      No. 1--San Jose (Silicon Valley)

·      No. 2--Boulder

·      No. 3--San Francisco

·      No. 4--Corvallis, Ore.

·      No. 5--Seattle

·      No. 6--Fort Collins

·      No. 7--Provo, UT

·      No. 8--Austin

·      No. 9--Burlington, VT

·      No. 10--Boston

Nerdwallet noted that eight of the Top 10 metro areas are located in the West, and every area on the Top 10 had a university in close proximity.