Surrounded by tech hubs like Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond, Kirkland has now become a fertile ground for startups in its own right. The Eastside city has emerged as a new hotspot in the last year, topping the list of Fastest-Growing Startup Cities from York IE.
Based on the research, Kirkland startups raised $298.6 million during the second quarter of 2022 alone. The rankings took into account cities’ total funding amount during the second quarter and measured that against their average quarterly funding over the previous year.
Based on that data, Kirkland’s second-quarter funding was a 1,724% increase over its average funding in the previous year. Some of the startups that made an impact include Bill Gates’s Echodyne, which raised $135 million and cybersecurity company Chainguard which raised $50 million.
Much of the funding has come from major investors, including investment firm Bailie Gifford and Sequoia Capital.
After Kirkland came Stanford, California, representing Silicon Valley in second place with a growth of 1,033% then Madison, WI with 793%, Birmingham, AL with 480% and Wilmington, DE with 257% growth finishing the top 5.
Other notable cities that have ranked on the list before include Berkely, Oakland and San Jose — suggesting that Kirkland is on par with other Silicon Valley tech hubs.
The report also ranks startup funding in established hubs. San Francisco led that ranking with a total of $9.8 billion in funding. Seattle was eighth, with $1.1 billion in startup funding in the same period. If Kirkland’s recent growth is any indicator, the Pacific Northwest will certainly continue to lead the country in innovation and technology for the foreseeable future.
This article was originally posted on Bizjournals.com.
