Which US regions do venture firms say they are actively looking for deals in?

ChatGPT

If you mean venture firms’ stated geographic appetite (“where are you looking for deals?”) rather than where VC dollars have historically gone, the pattern is roughly:

Region How VCs describe interest Examples of why they look there

Bay Area / Silicon Valley (CA) Still the core market for many AI, deep tech, and enterprise software investors Founder density, AI talent, repeat entrepreneurs, fast deal velocity. The Bay Area remains the largest US VC market by a wide margin.

NVCA

+1

New York City / Northeast A major target, especially fintech, enterprise software, healthcare, media, and AI Large customer base, financial institutions, universities, and founder networks. NY and California together account for a large share of early-stage activity.

PitchBook

Boston / New England Frequently targeted for biotech, healthcare, climate, robotics, and university spinouts MIT/Harvard ecosystem and life-science density. Massachusetts remains one of the top VC states.

NVCA

+1

Texas (Austin, Dallas, Houston) Increasingly on VC radars, especially enterprise software, AI infrastructure, defense, energy, and industrial tech Corporate relocations, engineering talent, lower operating costs, and growing startup ecosystems. Texas ranked among the leading non-coastal VC markets.

NVCA

Florida (Miami, Tampa, Orlando) Often cited as a growth market for fintech, SaaS, crypto/web3 infrastructure, and Latin America–linked startups Founder migration, investor migration, and access to Latin American…

Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.

Named: San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Boston, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Minneapolis, Seattle, Washington, D.C., San Diego

Sources cited: nvca.org, pitchbook.brightspotcdn.com, refreshmiami.com, spglobal.com, insights.euclid.vc, kpmg.com

Claude

Based on current reporting, venture firms remain heavily concentrated on a few hubs, though there's growing talk of looking beyond them:

Still the dominant centers:

Bay Area / Silicon Valley — by far the largest share of US VC dollars, with California alone pulling in roughly two-thirds of national venture capital in recent data, with San Francisco and Silicon Valley leading, capturing roughly two-thirds of all US VC.

Gilion

New York — the clear second hub, pulling in over $13B in the first half of the year.

Gilion

Named as growing or "worth watching" regions:

Boston, Texas, and Washington state rounded out the top destinations for VC dollars in recent data.

Gilion

The East Coast, particularly New York and Boston, leads in fintech and biotech, while the Midwest — cities like Chicago — offers a growing ecosystem.

Visible.vc

On the West Coast, Los Angeles and Seattle have grown as active ecosystems with access to both talent and capital, beyond just the Bay Area.

Visible.vc

One source notes that while 80% of top venture firms are headquartered in the Bay Area, two regional shifts are worth noting (though it didn't specify which two beyond general trend commentary).

Aspire

Bottom line: Despite plenty of talk about diversification, capital is still very concentrated — California alone captures roughly two-thirds of it. The "next tier" regions firms mention most often are New York, Boston, Texas, Washington state (Seattle), and to a lesser extent Chicago/the Midwest and Los…

Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.

Named: San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle

Sources cited: vc-mapping.gilion.com, visible.vc, aspireapp.com

Gemini

Venture capital firms continue to concentrate the majority of their dealmaking in traditional legacy hubs while actively expanding deal sourcing into select high-growth regional corridors across the United States:

Primary Investment Hubs (Heavy Deal Concentration)

Northern California (Silicon Valley & San Francisco): Remains the primary destination for VC dollars, driven by mega-rounds in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, and defense tech.

New York Metropolitan Area: Highly active for deals in growth-stage software, enterprise SaaS, fintech, and digital media.

Purple Path

New England (Greater Boston): Highly active for dealmaking in biotechnology, life sciences, healthcare, and deep tech.

Emerging & High-Growth Regional Markets

Venture firms actively seek out deals in several secondary and growing regional tech corridors:

The Sunbelt & Texas (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami): Benefiting from corporate relocations, migration of founders, and investments in enterprise software, proptech, and defense.

Mountain West (Salt Lake City / Silicon Slopes, Denver-Boulder): Active target area for enterprise software, cybersecurity, and outdoor tech startups.

The Southeast (Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham / Research Triangle, Nashville): Receiving increased venture interest for healthtech, fintech, supply chain, and university-spun research startups.

The Midwest (Chicago, Columbus, Minneapolis): Driven by specialized funds focusing on industrial tech, agtech,…

Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.

Named: San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Boston, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Salt Lake City, Denver, Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, Chicago, Columbus, Minneapolis

Sources cited: purplepath.io

Perplexity

Venture firms still concentrate most dealmaking in the established coastal hubs, but investor attention is broadening toward the South, Texas, the Midwest/Midcontinent, and Mountain West—especially where startups offer strong technical talent and comparatively lower valuations.

spglobal

+2

Core hubs

The regions firms most consistently pursue are:

Region / hub What signals active interest

Bay Area / Northern California It remains the country’s dominant venture market, particularly for AI, biotech, and deep tech. The Bay Area alone captured about one-third of U.S. seed rounds in 2025.

news.crunchbase

New York City / Mid-Atlantic New York remains one of the two central U.S. startup hubs and a leading market for fintech, SaaS, health tech, and AI-enabled enterprise software.

news.crunchbase

+1

Boston / New England Boston remains a major traditional venture center, especially relevant for science-intensive companies such as biotech and deep tech. It continues to rank among the principal U.S. funding hubs.

nvca

+1

Southern California / Los Angeles LA is still a major venture hub; current activity particularly spans media, gaming, fintech, and Web3-related companies.

nvca

+1

Seattle Seattle continues to appear among leading VC ecosystems, with meaningful deal activity in the latest regional data.

nvca

Fast-rising regions

Several regions are increasingly described as places where firms are intentionally seeking opportunities beyond the coastal centers:

Texas and the…

Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.

Named: San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Chicago, Raleigh-Durham

Sources cited: news.crunchbase.com, nvca.org, svb.com