PHOENIX RALEIGH- DURHAM Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States, but our ecosystem feels much more intimate because of its active network of super connectors. The local ecosystem has grown FIG. 17 Raleigh-Durham seed- and early-stage VC deal activity exponentially, in no small part due to StartupAZ, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the #yesPHX movement, and 62 62 64 pioneering founders who helped attract early capital. We have 56 plenty of local success stories, including GoDaddy, Keap, WebPT, 48 51 49 49 and Qwick. 44 42 Innovation in culture begets innovative culture, and our 33 6 8 2 . 7 universities are a critical reason for our success. Arizona State . . . .1 0 8 74 University produces new entrepreneurs every year, not to 4 6.5 6 6 183 1 3 $1 $ $ 1 0 $1 .1 2 .7 9 $ 1 5 . mention the faculty and researchers in the background who lend $ . 8 9 9 7. their expertise and lab research to their students. We think we 5 9 0 9 211 2 3 5 have key strengths in tech-enhanced and tech-enabled solutions, $ $ $1 $ $ from smarter transportation to cutting-edge healthcare, thanks to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 * 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 20 1 world class universities like ASU. 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 02 2 JI MI CHOI Deal value ($M) Deal count Vice President, ASU Knowledge Enterprise Source: PitchBook | Geography: Raleigh-Durham *As of September 1, 2021 FIG. 16 Phoenix seed- and early-stage VC deal activity 51 aleigh’s VC market is visibly bigger today than it was a decade 47 ago. Through early September, Raleigh has seen 64 seed- and 42 Rearly-stage financings worth a combined $597.9 million. In 2011, 38 40 by contrast, only 33 seed and early-stage rounds were done for a 35 29 36 combined $134.1 million. While the Raleigh-Durham area doesn’t have 32 28 hundreds of these deals taking place every year, it’s on an upward 21 trajectory, with 2021 already breaking volume and value records. 2 4 . . 2 1 7 8 5 7 0. .7 $8 .0 . .0 . . . $66 5 3 2 .0 5 8 2 2 The Raleigh-Durham area is known as “The Triangle” because $ 2 7 0 4 25 1 1 42 3 28 2 24 it crisscrosses three major universities. Duke University, the $ $1 $1 $ $ $ $ $ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 * University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 20 1 are founder factories, producing ideas and talent that undergird 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 02 the area’s ecosystem. That includes new graduates and alumni, 2 Deal value ($M) Deal count the latter of which have formed active angel networks to support local startups. Source: PitchBook | Geography: Phoenix *As of September 1, 2021 Entrepreneurs elsewhere have noticed. A common theme to their relocating here is that their runways are three times as long, hoenix is strengthening as an ecosystem. Ten years ago, 21 thanks to lower costs of living and an accessible housing market. seed- and early-stage financings were made, worth a combined The area has several legacy corporations, including IBM, Cisco, P$66.4 million. VC volume has increased steadily since then, GlaxoSmithKline, and Fidelity, but new entrants such as Google and the ecosystem regularly sees at least 40 early-stage financings Cloud are validating the Triangle’s status as a tech hub. We think per year. In terms of dollars invested, however, the ecosystem is this bodes well for the next decade, and we expect explosive much bigger today than it was a decade ago. In 2017, total capital growth as a result. invested skyrocketed to $425.7 million, much higher than the city had ever seen. Every year since, seed and early-stage financings have TIM SCALES remained above the $200 million mark. Director of Growth, American Underground 10 / Beyond Silicon Valley: Coastal dollars and local investors accelerate early-stage startup funding across the US