High interest rates have pushed venture investors to be much more conservative recently, making it difficult for new startups to raise funding, and leading to widespread layoffs in many venture-backed companies. But over the last 10 years overall, VC funding has exploded. When compared to GDP, all 50 states have seen VC funding growth, with the increase in VC funding ranging from 1.2X GDP in Rhode Island to 57.9X GDP in Wyoming.

Here are all of the key findings for Georgia:

• In 2012, venture funding in Georgia totaled about $666 million.

• By 2022, total VC funding reached nearly $2.3 billion—or $2,973 per $1 million in state GDP, compared to just $1,487 in 2012.

• On a per-GDP basis, venture capital funding in Georgia grew 2.0 times from 2012 to 2022—slower growth than the country as a whole, which saw VC funding increase 3.7 times during that span.

The U.S. economy has continued to defy pessimistic expectations in recent months, with employment, wages, and consumer spending remaining resilient amid high inflation and rising interest rates. But one part of the economy that has retracted is venture capital investment.

Venture capital financing has been a major catalyst for business growth in recent years, particularly through innovations in fields like technology and software. Now-ubiquitous tech companies like Uber and Airbnb got their starts as venture-backed startups within the last 15 years, but the impact of VC investment has flowed into every corner of the economy. As of late, however, high interest rates have pushed venture investors to be more conservative, making it harder for new startups to raise funding and leading to widespread layoffs in many venture-backed companies.

Total annual venture capital investment rose more than tenfold from the start of the Great Recession in 2007 to venture capital funding’s peak in 2021, buoyed by low interest rates during the long recovery from the recession. Over that span, venture capital funding also increasingly outpaced overall GDP growth in the U.S., solidifying itself as a mainstay in the business funding landscape. But from 2021 to 2022—as inflation began to spike and interest rates subsequently began to rise—total VC funding fell by almost half, from $443 billion to $256 billion.

Read more at flippa.com