附近上门

The Northwest United States is known for its vast landscapes and nature reserves, of course, but what about venture funding? Earlier in March, 附近上门 News took a look at five startups in the Southeastern U.S. that are making fundraising moves. This week, we鈥檙e delving into the Northwest as our next up-close look at startups outside of Silicon Valley.

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The Northwest is nowhere near as relatively neglected as the South when it comes to VC funding. With Seattle (the home of tech giants like Amazon) and Portland being tech hubs, VCs from Silicon Valley and elsewhere do make their way up to Pacific Northwestern cities.

According to 附近上门 data, 603 seed and early-stage companies were funded in the Northwest鈥擨daho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Wyoming鈥攕ince January 2014. Of those listed, 48 percent were in companies headquartered in Seattle. An additional 15 percent were companies headquartered in the remaining areas of King County, Washington including Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond. Fifteen percent of startups were headquartered in Portland.

In light of this data, we were compelled to look at the remaining 128 companies outside of those areas. Two of the early stage startups that have raised since 2017 see advantages to living outside of traditional tech hubs. They found that their environments鈥攚hether that鈥檚 rural Montana or a college town in Washington鈥攈ave proven beneficial to their growth.

Missoula, Montana:聽onX

Founded in 2009 in Missoula, Montana, is a digital mapping company that was designed to help sport hunters navigate during hunting trips. Through its onX Hunt App and onX Hunt Chip, users can access topographical maps that outline distinct boundaries between private and public land.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the hunter’s responsibility to know where they can legally hunt… Having a tool like this has been very powerful for hunters to easily access public lands that are not marked,鈥� brand director Evan Davies told 附近上门 News in an email. According to Davies, the tool is also used by over 2,000 wildlife officers and has helped with land owner relationships.

Though the company has expressed that the partnership with the community and culture of Missoula was integral to the design and innovation of the company, onX now serves hundreds of thousands of customers across the United States.

鈥淢ontana is our home and we take pride in providing solutions for the community around us. That being said, only about 7% of customers are in Montana,鈥� Davies wrote.

That potential for growth helped the company to raise a led by Boston-based Summit Partners along with Silicon Valley-based Bessemer Venture Partners and others in February 2018. This was the first funding round from outside investors for the company.

鈥淚nvestors are beginning to realize that geography doesn鈥檛 guarantee the best new ideas,鈥� Davies expressed. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been seeing a lot of growth in the hunting tech industry over the years and that upward trend wont stop anytime soon. Opportunities exist everywhere.”

The company will be using the $20.3 million it raised to further expand its teams in Missoula and Bozeman. It also aims to assemble the definitive off-pavement mapping data set to help hunters, hikers, fishers, and other outdoor enthusiasts stay informed.

Spokane, Washington: Stay Alfred

Founded by a U.S. Army veteran Jordan Allen in 2011, is a short-term urban vacation rental platform that seeks to combine the convenience of apartment-style vacation rental with hotel-style quality and consistency.

The Spokane, Washington-based company raised a in January 2017 from a private equity group located in Seattle. The Series A was the first bout of outside funding for the company.

鈥淭he trend information is clear: Travelers, both business and leisure, want the opportunity to experience a city on a local level and enjoy the benefits of home, like a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and separate rooms for larger travel groups.鈥� Allen told 附近上门 News in an email.

Stay Alfred , from San Diego to Atlanta, adding ten new destination cities since its Series A. The company recorded a $13.5 million in revenue in 2015 and $25 million in 2016. According to the company, its total revenue for 2017 was $34.8 million.

Allen expressed聽that while Spokane provides operational opportunities and efficiencies, being located outside of a hub makes fundraising strategies different from other companies.

鈥淲e had to initially prove ourselves a little bit more to the VC community,鈥� Allen wrote. 鈥淚t also means that our key leadership and board members have to stay connected to the VC communities even if we aren’t headquartered in any of the hubs.鈥�

Still, he believes that fostering relationships and staying connected with VCs is a critical part of fundraising for any startup and that it鈥檚 important to stay on top of your game.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it would make much of a difference if we were located in Portland, Seattle, or Silicon Valley thanks to the fact that we are focused on staying connected. If we weren鈥檛, it would be a different story.鈥�

Like Tom Gay of , he believes that the cost of living and lifestyle conveniences of places like Spokane will lead to more startups being created outside of hubs in the future.

鈥淎s big cities become too cost prohibitive for entrepreneurs to afford to take a chance and start a business, there will be more and more innovation coming out of cities like Spokane,鈥� he explained. 鈥淲e have an educated workforce thanks to the surrounding education system, an environment people want to live in, and the low cost to entry entrepreneurs need.鈥�

滨濒濒耻蝉迟谤补迟颈辞苍:听

Editorial Update: An earlier version of this piece reported onX’s funding round to be $25 million. The company raised $20.3 million.