Hottest ZIP Codes in Mass. for Startups

Where are the top-tier startup companies locating? Are they spreading out around the state and sharing the wealth as policymakers would like? With these questions in mind, using reports by VentureDeal, we mapped the 558 companies reported to have received angel or venture investments in the last 3 years. The data offered some surprising findings.

Hottest Neighborhoods

The only spreading out that has occurred is the leap across the Charles River from Cambridge into Boston. Data collected showed that that Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood housed the most startups receiving investments in the past 3 years. Considering the much-publicized startup activity in Kendall Square, this information does come as a bit of a surprise. Check out the rest of the list of the top 10 startup neighborhoods, all in the cities of Boston and Cambridge:

Hottest Cities

Further evidence of the leap across the river: Boston has become the startup capital of Massachusetts. It is home to 26 more newly funded startup companies than Cambridge. What’s interesting is that Boston has more emerging companies than the cities ranked nos. 3 – 10 on our list of cities combined!

Hopeful Cities

Less than 1% of companies receiving investments within the last 3 years were located in one of the former industrial hubs named “Gateway City.” Often, companies born in one of these cities move to the Boston area to receive investments. For example, two scientists co-founded gene-therapy company, Voyager Therapeutics at the UMass Medical School in Worcester but started the company in Cambridge after receiving financing by Third Rock Ventures.

Cities like Lowell and Worcester have many of the ingredients (including UMass campuses) needed for a vital startup scene. So what would it take for local entrepreneurs to attract startup funding?

According to Peter Cohan, a writer for the Telegram & Gazette who teaches entrepreneurship at Babson College: “A single high-profile success could light the fire.”