Ask HN: Startup world -- is there any chance for us not based in SF?

6 points·blormon··6 comments

Do foreigners have a chance at getting funded if they're not based in the Silicon Valley ?

Yes, there are other growing tech areas in the world including where I live and work: Charleston, SC which as been referred to as "Silicon Harbor".

Well, we're based in Berlin and things here are not at all comparable to the US. We were thinking of moving to SF for fundraising and bizdev -- however the move overhead seems a bit too much.

Can you recommend incubators/accelerators based on Charleston ? a quick gsearch revealed a few, but can't seem to find successful startups graduating from them.

Of course.

Silicon Prairie is booming right now. Kansas City, Nebraska, Iowa, etc all have people both investing in companies and starting companies.

Invest Nebraska, for example, will give you $50,000 if you provide 50% from other sources (So you'd need to find $25,000 on your own before they'll give their $50K to your company. )

Your question has several aspects to it. Get funded where? in SV? or in the US generally?

Cambridge, MA is an option - there is a great ecosystem here. Although my understanding is that east coast investors are more "conservative" than west coast early-stage investors and VCs.

The East Bay is very close. Anyone getting funded in Oakland/Emeryville?

My friends in Portland and New York seem to think things aren't quite as "crazy" out there.

Colorado, and specifically Boulder is starting to build a pretty strong startup community...

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