Commercialization:

Venture Capital

Key message

Attracting venture capital into the state is vital for innovative Oregon businesses to thrive. Venture capital investments in Oregon have grown over the last year after several years of stagnation. Continuing this trend will be vital to growing Oregon's innovation economy.

Why is it significant?

Access to capital plays a crucial role in new firm formation and stimulating economic growth. Angel investors and venture funds provide the risk capital many companies need to begin or expand their operations.

How does Oregon perform?

Oregon venture capital investment returned to 2002 levels after a large and temporary increase in 2007. With the exception of 2007, Oregon venture capital investment has remained relatively stable since 2002. See Figure 11.

Oregon ranked 18th in the nation in venture capital investment per $1,000 of GSP in 2008. Among competitor states Oregon attracts relatively little venture capital and has been below the national average in this measure for the last ten years. See Figure 12.

Figure 12. Venture Capital per $1,000 of State Gross Domestic Product

State	2008 Rank	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
California	2	$6.15	$6.28	$7.40	$8.16	$7.60
Colorado	3	$2.25	$2.88	$2.94	$2.56	$3.40
Washington	5	$3.43	$2.70	$3.57	$4.38	$2.90
Minnesota	6	$1.57	$0.98	$1.33	$1.92	$1.88
Utah	8	$2.33	$2.79	$1.91	$1.78	$1.71
New York	12	$0.80	$1.09	$1.26	$1.02	$1.20
Oregon	18	$1.17	$1.00	$1.01	$1.82	$1.01
Arizona	19	$0.54	$0.69	$1.11	$0.83	$0.84
Idaho	28	$0.06	$0.17	$0.03	$0.36	$0.45
United States		$1.80	$1.76	$2.03	$2.26	$1.98

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree(TM)
Report based on data from Thomson Reuters; Bureau of Economic Analysis