Startups in Southern New Hampshire

Southern NH has the benefit of having a 6.25% lower COL than MA but still being close enough to the Boston area that it can draw from those resources.

The income/property tax situation hits people living in NH but working in MA hardest. If you live in NH it's very much to your advantage to work there too.

Northern New England is tons more compatible with people who aren't from left leaning communities on the coasts than southern New England. Many people are willing to take the hit in terms of $$ in order to live in a place that's compatible with them. In NH can set of fireworks for your friend's birthday party and nobody will bat an eyelash. You can have a conversation with someone in the checkout line about where you go shooting on the weekends and your favorite cheap shotgun rounds. You can roll up to the gas station with two fresh deer in your truck bed and get compliments instead of dirty looks. You can part out a car in your driveway and it's more likely that whoever complains will be shunned by the neighborhood than you will. Few people do all of these things with regularity but many, many, competent, highly skilled individuals want to do one or two and can appreciate the freedom to do so.

The state colleges in "flyover states" might not be MIT and Harvard but they churn out a non-negligible amount of skilled white collar workers and many of those who wind up in the Boston area chasing careers find the cost additional cost of living in NH to be worth paying in exchange for living somewhere they're not culturally incompatible.

It was only a matter of time until employers started tapping into this.

Surprised that no startups in Portsmouth, NH were mentioned!