Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Quarterly reports about venture money coming into L.A. County or Southern California only tell you so much about the area's tech/entrepreneurial activity. But Zara Matheson of the Martin Prosperity Institute has pinpointed where the VC dollars have been going - and while some locations are not surprising (portions of Santa Monica received $400 million in 2011), other spots are less obvious, among them downtown L.A., Burbank (near Warner Bros.), Westwood, and Hollywood. Two caveats: The numbers are fairly old (and subject to considerable volatility) and a single VC deal can distort overall activity. Nonetheless, Matheson's findings show that investors remain interested in a wide swath of Socal's urban locales, not just the areas in and around the coastal communities. From Richard Florida:
This urban shift becomes even clearer when we distinguish between predominantly urban and predominantly suburban zip codes across Southern California. In greater L.A. and Orange County, predominantly urban zip codes accounted for nearly 80 percent (78.9 percent) of venture capital investments, nearly $2 billion dollars. In greater San Diego, predominantly urban zips accounted for more than nine in every ten dollars (91.8 percent) of venture capital investment. A decade ago, a grim Brookings report on the state of sprawl in Southern California noted that well-paying jobs in the high-tech sector had concentrated in "mature, high-amenity" suburbs like Irvine. But this has clearly begun to change.
Top Ten Zip Codes for Venture Capital Investment in Los Angeles and Orange County (2011)
Rank Zip Code Neighborhood and Features City Investment (millions)
1 92807 East Anaheim/Anaheim Hills Anaheim (OC) $531
2 90401 Downtown Santa Monica, including the pier Santa Monica $286
3 92618 Irvine Spectrum Center, Irvine Tech and Research Centers Irvine (OC) $154
4 91522 Warner Bros. Studios Burbank $128
5 90071 Downtown, Bunker Hill Los Angeles $125
6 90404 Midtown Santa Monica, Pico District Santa Monica $114
7 92673 Northern San Clemente San Clemente (OC) $113
8 90024 Westwood, UCLA Los Angeles $76
9 90028 Hollywood Los Angeles $71
10 92656 Suburban Aliso Viejo Aliso Viejo (OC) $70
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.