VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN FLORIDA HAS BEST YEAR SINCE 2004
I love ending a Friday afternoon with good news and this certainly qualifies! $421 million dollars was invested in 37 Florida companies last year which is twice what was invested in 2012 and the most since 2004.
There is no reason given for the large increase, other than the fact that nationally venture capital was up 7% from the year before. There were 4% more deals than the year before as well. What is interesting is to look at the sectors where the money is being invested. $194 million went into software and half of that to a company called OpenPeak. That brings up a subplot worth mentioning since it is tied into many of the other subjects of this blog, attracting companies to the area, bringing jobs, growing the right kinds of industries here, etc. only in this case it is a retention deal. I know about it because it deals with real estate. OpenPeak has been growing rapidly and has applied for area incentives to stay in Florida. They have a ton of high paying jobs and are exactly the kind of industry anyone would want to have. They have directly threatened to relocate to California if their request is not satisfied. We know Florida has been very aggressive in trying to lure companies to the area in the past and to date. Now we will see how they deal with retaining one of those companies that is already here and thriving. It is not yet known if they are staying or leaving. Life science was next with $107 million. This category includes biotechnology and medical device companies. This is very promising to me considering the enormous investment the state made in this sector with Scripps. The hope behind that deal was that a cluster of biotechnology companies was going to come here to collocate with Scripps and build a La Jolla here that would rival California. It was an investment for the future of Florida in a growing industry that would bring good paying jobs and attract other good companies to the area. It hasn’t happened yet but it appears to have just grown by $107 million.
While $421 million might sound like a lot of money to you and me, that represents just 1.4% of the total venture capital invested. So there is plenty of room to improve on this and with our track record of aggressively pursuing companies from outside the state, friendly taxes, and awesome weather, there is no reason to think we won’t be successful.
It will just take some time and the improvement of the economy in general will speed that up. Have a great weekend!
Venture capital investment rises sharply in Florida
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/
Orin Rosenfeld
President
Rosenfeld Realty Advisors
9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209
Boca Raton, FL 33434
Phone: 561-756-1665
Fax: 561-470-0707
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