BIP Capital, one of the premier investment firms in the Southeastern United States, announced the availability of its inaugural The State of Startups in the Southeast report, delivering a comprehensive overview of the venture capital and startup ecosystem in this region of the country. The report takes an in-depth look at startup activity throughout nine states in the southeastern United States over the time period January 1, 2012 – August 31, 2017 and is free to anyone interested in learning more.

Some notable observations revealed in the research report include:

• There is a definite maturation of the startup ecosystem in the Southeast, particularly in Georgia.

• Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Northern Virginia and Research Triangle are emerging as market-leading tech innovation hubs.

• Florida, North Carolina and Georgia lead southeastern states with respect to deal activity and total investment dollars.

• The most investments in the Southeast in a single year occurred in 2014. That said, 2017 looks to be a strong year, outpacing last year's total number of deals and dollars invested.

• Southeastern corporations are allocating more of their balance sheets to venture activities.

"Over the past 10 years, we have invested in seed, traction and growth-stage companies while participating in the maturation of the region's startup ecosystem," said Mark Buffington, CEO at BIP Capital. "Given this background and history, we saw an opportunity to consolidate our learnings in a way that could benefit the region. We hope this report, which we plan to issue annually, will further educate investors in the venture capital space on emerging trends to watch as well as highlight the area's growth and future opportunities."

State-Specific Highlights

Specific notable trends and observations for each state in the report include:

• Florida continues to be a southeastern powerhouse in startup funding.

• Georgia's number of deals has declined, but the state has seen an uptick in the dollars invested, with more money going into less startups. Kentucky has seen a similar pattern.

• Biotech remains Alabama's hottest market, drawing almost three times more the amount of dollars than the second biggest sector, Consumer Technology.

• 2017 is on track to be North Carolina's best year yet in terms of dollars invested in innovation.

• On the contrary, 2017 is on track to come in quite a bit lower for Tennessee, signaling a possible slow-down in investor interest.

• Investors are showing a keen interest in South Carolina's growing innovation around SaaS businesses.

• Cybersecurity stands out in Virginia as a key sector, while it goes relatively undetected in the other states studied.

• Mississippi is still in its infancy stage when it comes to southeastern investing.

What the Future Holds

BIP Capital leaders draw several conclusions from the report regarding what we can likely expect to see in the coming months and years, including:

• The continued democratization of the venture capital asset class as individual investors increase their allocations to private market investment opportunities.

• An increase in the type and amount of private market investment products as a result of increasing retail demand for the asset class.

• Data and workflow improvement will play a huge role in the continued deconstruction and rebuilding of the U.S. Healthcare sector.

• Atlanta will become nationally recognized as a market-leading innovation hub.