While cities and areas like Silicon Valley, Boston and New York City are known for their in-depth involvement and investment in digital health and venture capitalistic projects, they aren't necessarily the cities where digital health comprises a high percent of the total venture capital, according to a new report from Brookings Institution.
The San Francisco, Boston, San Jose, Calif., New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas are among the top metropolitan areas for venture capital investment in digital health as of 2014. However, when looking at the highest percentage of venture capital dedicated to digital health, these cities are toward the bottom of the list.
"One might think that digital health entrepreneurship would be more likely to come from places with major hospitals, medical schools or other healthcare providers. That does not appear to be the case," according to the paper authors. "Metro areas with strong advanced service industries — like computer systems design, engineering services and research and development services — are very likely to have high rates of digital health VC investment."
The 10 cities where digital health makes up the highest percent of total venture capital are:
1. San Obispo, Calif.: 0.97 percent
2. San Antonio: 0.32 percent
3. Nashville, Tenn.: 0.28 percent
4. St. Louis: 0.24 percent
5. Cleveland: 0.20 percent
6. Tampa, Fla.: 0.18 percent
7. Indianapolis: 0.17 percent
8. Worcester, Mass.: 0.16 percent
9. New Haven, Conn.: 0.16 percent
10. Salt Lake City: 0.15 percent
Boston comes in No. 19 in this ranking, at 0.08 percent. Los Angeles is No. 21 with 0.07 percent. San Francisco comes in at No. 24 with 0.05 percent, and New York is No. 27 with 0.04 percent.
"The digital health ecosystem is dispersed geographically throughout the United States, with deal and investment concentrations less concentrated in the major VC hubs than total venture capital. At a share of the workforce, some surprising areas emerge as important contributors to VC entrepreneurship," the authors conclude.
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