While Silicon Valley is often hailed as the best place to launch a tech startup, it most certainly is not the only place to launch a tech startup. At the Founder Institute, we believe that every city has the potential to be an entrepreneurial hub, and Washington DC is no exception.
Primarily known for its influential scene of bureaucrats and politicians, Washington DC is now transforming into a hub for entrepreneurs and startups with government ties. If you’re teetering on the thought of launching a business in the DC area, we’re here to provide you with comforting knowledge: Washington DC is one of the best places to build a startup.
The Washington DC Founder Institute is currently accepting applications for the upcoming winter semester. If you could benefit from expert feedback and advice to launch a company in Washington DC, click here to learn more and apply today.
When Washington DC began nurturing its startup scene a couple decades ago, the city saw an influx of venture capital firms looking to invest in promising DC startups. Venture capital firms such as Carlyle Venture Partners, who began funding startups in the city in the late 1980s, led a charge that has caused DC to be one of the top ten largest venture capital marketplaces in the United States. Every year since then, more and more venture capital firms have chosen to invest in DC-based startups. These venture capital investments in the DC area have passed the $50 billion mark annually.
Along with the growth of venture capital in DC, startup incubators have also flooded the city. 1776, launched in DC in 2013, has already become one of the most reputable incubators in the Eastern United States, funding successful startups such as eduCanon. Numerous co-working spaces such as Canvas and Hive2.0 have opened up to supplement these incubators and foster creative environments in which startups can flourish.
DC has also seen the increased presence of accelerators like Founder Institute: DC. These accelerators have helped to launch successful startups like Sworkit, a personalized workout app that recently acquired funding from Mark Cuban after presenting on the show Shark Tank.
Below is a brief timeline of the recent developments in the Washington DC startup scene, showing the entries of several key players into the Washington DC startup ecosystem within the last decade:
