Hat tip to Steve for sending this biomed/VC article along:
How has San Diego’s biomedical industry, arguably the region’s key economic sector, been weathering the downturn, and what’s its outlook for the future?
According to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and the California Healthcare Institute (CHI), the industry has suffered along with the rest of the economy, but remains resilient. Nevertheless, storm clouds loom on the horizon, especially in the form of regulatory and reimbursement issues.
For several years, PWC has partnered with CHI, which advocates on behalf of the Golden State’s biomed industry, to produce the annual study. It reveals that, in San Diego, venture capital has fallen from a recent high of $1.9 billion in 2007 to $900 million in 2009—a 50 percent decrease that’s slightly worse than the national and statewide fall in seed money. A similar drop-off occurred in investments directed specifically at life science ventures.
Unsurprisingly, though, San Diego far outpaces the rest of the state in investments in biomedical companies as a percentage of total venture funding. Unlike in Silicon Valley, where only a quarter of every seed dollar goes to life sciences, the proportion here is more than two-thirds. Statewide, the computer (hardware, software, and services) industry employs about as many people as the life sciences sector, both of which dwarf any other industry in California.
But perhaps most encouraging is that nearly two-thirds of all venture investments in San Diego are in startup or early stages, far exceeding the national average and auguring positive future developments here.
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This article has San Diego ranked seventh in the nation for venture capital:
METRO AREAS BY RANK
RankMetro AreaScore
1. San Francisco 5.50%
2. Seattle 2.71%
3. Austin 1.83%
4. Boston 1.53%
5. Raleigh-Durham 1.35%
6. Denver 1.20%
7. San Diego 1.01%
8. Grand Rapids 0.49%
9. Washington 0.44%
10. Portland 0.43%
11. Atlanta 0.42%
12. Minneapolis 0.42%
13. Los Angeles 0.36%
14. Orlando 0.34%
15. St. Louis 0.34%
16. New York 0.33%
17. Las Vegas 0.30%
18. Miami 0.29%
19. Rochester 0.29%
20. Nashville 0.24%
21. Chicago 0.23%
22. Philadelphia 0.23%
23. Phoenix 0.22%
24. Dallas 0.20%
Thanks- an excellent website. Explore it a bit- San Diego ranks a bit higher (#5) in “overall”.
Rick The Tuna
To see venture capital ‘in action’ here in San Diego, this is a good group to get involved with: http://www.sdvg.org/
Monthly meetings draw over 300 attendees. You do not need to be a member to attend meetings.
That is actually not very encouraging.
Almost all (75%?) of the jobs in SD are in VC funded start-ups, and so if the funding is down 50%, then jobs are going to drop 30%. After they are out of the start-up phase, most of the jobs leave for east coast pharmas.
This is unlike the computer industry, I’m afraid, where there are actual production jobs in CA, and where many companies are public.
Look at the gap between #7 San Diego and #8 Grand Rapids!
FreedomCM, where can we find the composition of jobs in SD that are VC funded? Your guestimate is 75%. What is your source?
Sorry, no source other than personal observation. I”m sure that others have more verifiable information.
(and btw, I was commenting on biotech, the only sphere I am exposed to)