15 Top Cities for Tech Startups

San Francisco edges out Silicon Valley rival San Jose as the most attractive area for tech startups, according to a recent report from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

Whether you’re considering launching a tech startup of your own and you need to know where the venture capital is flowing or you just want to work in one, these cities may soon be the place you call home. CIO.com spoke with, Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA for insight into some of the factors driving the trends inside these growing startup communities.

The NVCA list measures overall venture capital investment in each respective market to compile its data.

The first stop on our countdown is Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is a small city with a big entrepreneurial edge. The NVCA attributes this to the University of Colorado; graduates want to remain in Boulder. It’s a very hip and happening kind of town that draws entrepreneurs and venture capitalists alike. “They’ve had some successful venture firms and companies, as well as some strong incubators in that Boulder market. It’s a very small city that breaks into the top 15,” says Heesen.

No. of Deals: 28 No. of Startups: 27 Sum of Equity Invested (USD millions): 130.03

The Mile High City has been a startup hotbed for years thanks to names like PhotoBucket and TechStars. “The city has easy transportation (flights) for out of state VCs, its proximity to Boulder helps and accelerators such as Tech Stars flourish in the region,” says Heesen. CEO David Cohen was quoted in USA Today saying that his company TechStars takes on 50 companies a year with a fund for startups at $80 million.

No. of Deals: 31 No. of Startups: 24 Sum of Equity Invested (USD millions): 141.33

D.C. and the surrounding metro area are home to the federal government and this drives a lot of the trends in this busy market. The VC market is heavily connected to the government, specifically the department of homeland security and defense industry, according to the NVCA. “Many small IT companies have been sprouting up in the DC region due to the federal government presence and the strong interest in security,” says Heesen.

No. of Deals: 92 No. of Startups: 79 Sum of Equity Invested (USD millions): 397.00

Boston, a traditional venture capital hub, is seeing a lot of growth in healthcare, which is good for HIT startups. HIT is a growing sector, since the recent Supreme Court decision on healthcare. Up to that point, many companies were waiting on the sideline to see how recent healthcare legislation would pan out. On the IT side, Boston continues to be an important player in the VC markets. With its proximity to the prestigious MIT, many of the startups located here are created by MIT graduates who wanted to stay in the New England area, according to the NVCA.

No. of Deals: 212 No. of Startups: 179 Sum of Equity Invested (USD millions): 1,335.90

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made great strides in making NYC attractive to the media and entertainment industries. Coming in at No. 3 NYC has it all and is fast becoming a top market and IT hub for these industries. “Bloomberg has gone full-throttle to attract entrepreneurial companies to his city,” says Heesen. He’s rolled out the red carpet to make it amenable to entrepreneurs to live and work in the city. Being close to the major media conglomerates on Madison Avenue helps make these small agile companies successful. It’s a city that’s really come into its own as a result of leadership, according to Heesen.

No. of Deals: 271 No. of Startups: 238 Sum of Equity Invested (USD millions): 1,640.65

The birthplace of countless Internet startup companies, Silicon Valley has been and continues to be a dominant force in the tech market. It has a strong and robust IT start-up community. Many big players in IT like PayPal, Facebook and Google call this area home. Between the major players in IT and the VC community, it’s rife with talent, entrepreneurs, and venture capital money.

No. of Deals: 327 No. of Startups: 276 Sum of Equity Invested (USD millions): 3,251.12

Number 1 on our list is the San Francisco Bay area. A number of big-time companies grew their roots here with the help of a vibrant startup community–Pandora and Craigslist, for example. “The City of San Fran has become a lot more attractive to the IT startups due to young people wanting to live in [such] a vibrant city. These days it costs less money to create an IT business with the accompanying infrastructure so you can afford to do it in the city and not have to schlep into the valley and be a part of a bigger operation,” says Heesen.

No. of Deals: 495 No. of Startups: 431 Sum of Equity Invested (USD millions): 4,243.52