Now Available: The State of Startups in the Southeast 2023

BIP Ventures has released the 2023 The State of Startups^SM in the Southeast. The report covers entrepreneurial and investment activities from Q1 2018 through June 30, 2023, and looks into a maturing innovation environment. It also recognizes the impacts of the tumultuous backdrop of the past five-and-a-half years, contextualizing the insights within significant macroeconomic impacts.

What the 2023 report reveals is that across the Southeast, fewer deals are happening, but the dollar value has increased materially. Generally, investment behaviors are returning to pre-pandemic patterns, with an important distinction. The dollars deployed in most states continue to exceed pre-pandemic levels.

What’s in the State of Startups in the Southeast 2023  

The first half of The State of Startups in the Southeast report examines innovation and investment trends for the region, all within the context of historical and economic impacts. The second half enables digs into state-by-state data. Key points include:  

• The redefinition of startup stages and sizes and what that means for deal flow.
• Why the Southeast investment behaviors are trailing other innovation markets.
• How investors are navigating risk and reward by sector and stage.
• What sectors are accelerating innovation as a result of bigger average deal sizes.

Key Data in the State of Startups in the Southeast 2023  

• States deployed $5.8 Billion in capital in Q1-Q2 2023, compared to $14.7B in Q1-Q2 2022.  
• The average check size increased 22% from $5.5M in 2018 to $6.7M in 2023 YTD.  
• The size of Seed deals increased 75% from $0.15M in 2018 to $0.26M in 2023 YTD.  
• Capital deployed annually from 2018 to projected full year 2023 increased from $10.1B to $11.9B.  

"After navigating massive venture capital run-ups over the past couple of years, we've begun to see a return to earth for investment and startup activity. A lot has changed since we began producing this report, including how we define Seed deals and which sectors capture the greatest deal count and size. But what hasn't changed is that the Southeast region has a lot to offer to founders." (Mark Flickinger, General Partner and COO)  

For 2023, the report is a fully interactive experience that allows readers to click into graphs to gather the numbers behind the trends and take a deep dive into startup ecosystems for each state.  

Read the press release here.