BizWorld Updates Monthly Draper Innovation Index U.S.

States Compete to Land in Top Ten of Best Places to Launch a Startup

Florida Still Tops the DII US Rankings
DII US Top Ten Experiences Major Shake Up
Utah (2nd) and Colorado (3rd) Overtake Texas (4th) in the DII US Top Ten
Arizona (6th), Delaware (7th), and Virginia (8th) Climb in the Top Ten
Nevada (10th) Jumps into the Top Ten from 15th
From 6th, South Dakota (14th) Falls Out of the Top Ten
New Hampshire Falls from 7th to 10th
Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky Post Strong Gains
Massachusetts, Wyoming, and Alaska See Large Declines
Utah Jumps Ahead of California in the DII US Tech Innovation Scenario

Oakland, California – BizWorld announces the March 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. This month’s update of the DII US reflects significant updates to many data metrics, including the Tax Foundation’s 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index and Pitchbook’s Venture Capital Deals. Additionally, the U.S. Opportunity Index Score has been replaced by Social Progress Imperative’s Social Progress Index.

“As you can see, the DII US Top Ten experienced dramatic changes in March. Utah and Colorado surpassed Texas, Nevada entered the Top Ten, and Arizona, Delaware, and Virginia climbed higher,” said BizWorld founder Tim Draper. “Conversely, South Dakota saw a steep decline and fell out of the Top Ten. Massachusetts had this month’s second largest drop due primarily to its poor performance on the State Business Climate Tax Index, while Michigan experienced the largest gain due mostly to better performance on the very same index. While creating a strong business and entrepreneurial environment is very complex, tax policy is clearly one powerful lever that state-level policymakers can pull to spur an improved innovation and entrepreneurial climate.”

Top Takeaways from the DII US March 2024 Update:

• Utah rose from 3rd to 1st in Tech Innovation and overtook Texas on the DII Balanced rankings due to strong performance on business formation statistics and cryptocurrency/blockchain related investments.
• Colorado also climbed due to strong overall capital investments and business formation statistics.
• Texas, on the other hand, saw strong capital investments but fell from 2nd to 4th on the DII Balanced rankings due to weaker business formation statistics.
• Thanks to an improvement in its Tax Climate Index, as well as above average performance in business formation, Arizona climbed from 9th to 6th.
• Boosted by comparatively strong performance across all monthly indicators and in the Social Progress Index, Delaware improved from 8th to 7th in the DII Balanced.
• Jumping from 10th to 8th, Viriginia benefitted from an improved State Business Tax Climate Index and strong Social Profess Index combined with above-average cryptocurrency/blockchain investments.
• Nevada jumped from 15th to 9th due to above average overall capital investments, improvements in its Social Progress Index score, and consistent performance on the Tax Climate Index.
• South Dakota fell out of the DII Top 10, from 6th to 14th, due to subpar performances on several sub-indices including the Social Progress Index and cryptocurrency/blockchain related investments.
• New Hampshire slipped from 7th to 10th in the DII US due to weakness in both overall capital investments and cryptocurrency/blockchain related investments as well as below-average venture capital deals.
• Michigan improved 10 places, from 22nd to 12th, in the DII US Balanced scenario thanks to strong growth in cryptocurrency/blockchain related investments and an improvement in its Tax Climate Index.
• Indiana’s rank improved from 19th to 11th due to stronger overall capital investments and an improved Social Progress Index score.
• Due to the largest dop on the Tax Climate Index and poor business formation index, Massachusetts fell from 14th to 21st in the DII Balanced and from 21st to 29th in Regulatory and Tax.

“Texas and Florida have stayed at or near the top of the DII US rankings since we began this project in 2021,” said Bizworld Chief Economic Advisor Dr. Wallace Walrod. “If you look at the nation’s top college entrepreneurship programs, you’ll see more Texas and Florida schools than in any other states. This is clearly not a coincidence; strong entrepreneurship education is an indispensable foundation of a strong, innovative business climate.”

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

Download the press release