BizWorld Updates Monthly Draper Innovation Index U.S.
States Compete to Land in Top Ten of Best Places to Launch a Startup

• Colorado Passes Both Texas and North Carolina for 3^rd Place in the DII US
• Georgia Breaks into DII Top 10; Nevada Falls Out
• New Hampshire Jumps to 8^th, Virginia Falls
• California and New York Drop Again
• Massachusetts Climbs into Top 20
• Maine and Missouri Decline, Kentucky and Tennessee Rise

Oakland, California – BizWorld announces the August 2024 update to the Draper Innovation Index U.S. (DII US), which evaluates each state’s innovation environment and entrepreneurship climate. Published monthly since 2021, the DII US provides the most well-rounded, up-to-date ranking of entrepreneurial locations, reflecting both traditional and emerging economic metrics, from taxes and regulations to venture capital investment, cryptocurrency friendliness, and blockchain investment trends.

“Colorado rose to third place in the DII US this month on the back of strong performance across a wide variety of our data metrics and analytics,” said BizWorld founder Tim Draper. “Florida, Utah, and Texas’s long-running monopoly on our top three has finally been broken. Colorado broke into the top three through success on both sides of the entrepreneurship coin, investment – including crypto and blockchain-related investment – and new business formation.”

Top Takeaways from the DII US August 2024 Update

• Thanks to strong business formation statistics and growth in overall and cryptocurrency/blockchain-related investments, Colorado overtook Texas and North Carolina for 3^rd place in the DII US. 
• Texas declined to 4^th on the DII US because growth in overall venture capital investments and cryptocurrency/blockchain-related investments failed to offset comparably weak business formation statistics. 
• North Carolina dropped to 5^th due to slower business formation statistics and no growth in cryptocurrency/blockchain-related investments. 
• California slipped from 13^th to 15^th in the DII US due to weak business formation statistics. 
• General weakness across all DII US monthly metrics pushed New York from 34^th to 37^th. 
• New Hampshire rose from 10^th to 8^th due to overall venture capital investment growth and healthy  business formation trends. 
• Virginia dropped to 9^th in the DII US after being outperformed by New Hampshire in overall venture capital investment growth.  
• Georgia broke into the DII Top 10 this month after  registering the second highest growth rate in overall venture capital investments. 
• Nevada fell from 9^th to 11^th because of notably weak business formation statistics, which offset growth in cryptocurrency/blockchain-related and overall venture capital investment. 
• Massachusetts improved from 23^rd to 20^th  thanks to strong business formation performance. 
• Maine sank 6 places, from 30^th to 36^th  due to  no cryptocurrency/blockchain-related venture capital investment growth as well as poor business formation statistics. 
• Missouri fell 4 places to 19th due to negligible venture capital investment growth and poor business formation performance. 
• Kentucky had the month’s largest increase in cryptocurrency/blockchain-related investments, which pushed it up from 40^th to 34^th on the DII US. 
• Tennessee rose from 16^th to 12^th on the back of good overall venture capital investment growth and strong business formation statistics.

“California and New York, two of the three largest state economies, both fell down the ranks again this month,” said BizWorld Chief Economic Advisor Dr. Wallace Walrod. “This was due to weakness on a number of metrics, including a declining performance in Regulatory and Tax metrics for California. Both states have some of the nation’s highest tax rates, which have had a clear,  absolute knock-on effect on investors and entrepreneurs.”

The DII US will continue to post monthly updates which can be accessed here.

About BizWorld

BizWorld.org is a global non-profit organization based in Oakland, CA, whose mission is to enable youth from all backgrounds to unlock the power of entrepreneurship to create career opportunities, inspire self-reliance, and build confidence that drives economic prosperity globally. Founded over 25 years ago by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, BizWorld.org programs teach students real-world 21st century skills and leadership that encourage them to become responsible leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. More than 850,000 students in more than 100 countries have participated in BizWorld programs. https://www.bizworld.org/