The work-at-home frenzy has led to the natural prediction that tech companies may decentralize their workforces away from the typical and pricey New York and Silicon Valley hubs to less trafficked areas.
The question was and still is, where will they go?
One apparent pick: Denver, Colorado.
Palantir, the big data company that is reportedly seeking to go public via a direct listing, recently changed its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Denver. And e-commerce giant Amazon is planning to add some 3,500 corporate jobs and 900,000 square feet of office space in Dallas, Detroit, New York, Phoenix, San Diego, and, yes, Denver.
Meanwhile, startups in California, New York, and Boston raised about 74% of venture capital dollars in 2019. But as more dollars chase fewer ideas, investors are starting to look outside the typical hubs. And Colorado-based startups did rank in the top 10 states—raising about $2.5 billion that year, representing about 1.9% of all U.S. VC dollars that year, per the NVCA’s 2019 yearbook.
If the prediction comes to pass, a new crop of startup founders could rise from these newer hubs.
That’s not to say the top hubs are dead. Amazon has, after all, named New York among the cities in its expansion plans. As for Palantir, it’s still unclear the exact scale of the move.
AIRBNB’S IPO: The short-term rental company filed confidentially for a listing on Wednesday. It’s been a trying saga: The company previously considered a listing. Then the pandemic hit. Revenues dropped off the cliff. Firms like Silver Lake swooped in with new terms. Now the travel-focused mega-unicorn must still contend with the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: [email protected]
