Las Vegas has long been known as a world-class entertainment destination, making tourism and gaming the primary drivers of our economy. That’s largely true of Nevada as a whole.
Jeff Saling
Our global leadership in these industries is admirable and critically important. Yet, we have seen the challenges posed by relying solely on these industries, especially during economic downturns.
As a result, many on the state and local levels have focused efforts on diversifying the economy by attracting and fostering new businesses, especially startups in the tech sector.
Startups play an integral role in diversifying economies and building the tech industry. A vibrant startup ecosystem with a strong footing in technology—like what can be found in San Francisco; Austin, Texas; and Chicago—support new companies, generate good-paying jobs, and create generational wealth-building opportunities.
Similar trends are gaining traction in Nevada. Proof of this is StartUpNV, a nonprofit incubator and accelerator founded in 2017, focused on fostering a diverse and thriving startup ecosystem. StartUpNV enjoyed its most successful year yet in 2022.
Through its programs and associated venture capital funds, StartUpNV has invested nearly $3 million in Nevada-based startups since its founding five years ago. More than half of that total was invested last year.
Ninety percent of this funding was invested in tech-related startups based in Nevada.
The companies that received the StartUpNV-related investments since 2017 have gone on to raise even more funding, totaling over $75 million.
They also created more than 450 jobs in the state—with 90% of these jobs in the tech sector.
In addition to bolstering the state’s tech industry, building a successful startup ecosystem can have a significant economic impact. According to Implan, a leading provider of economic impact data, every $1 invested as capital in a startup typically generates between $18 and $25 in economic impact over time.
So the investments raised over the past five years can have an eventual economic impact of $1.47 billion.
Beyond this impressive macroeconomic impact, the success of startups also has significant benefits on a personal level. Entrepreneurs see their dreams realized through a thriving business. Founders and the angel investors build generational wealth for their families.
To help achieve all this, StartUpNV has focused its AngelNV program on building a bridge between entrepreneurs and angel investors through a series of educational bootcamps that teach startups how to raise venture capital and new investors how to invest in startups.
The program culminates each spring with one startup receiving a $200,000 investment from the AngelNV Conference Fund, made possible by the participants in AngelNV’s investor bootcamp, who each invest $5,000.
Now in its third year, AngelNV continues to educate more entrepreneurs, attract more investors, and raise more seed money. This is due in part to the fact that AngelNV investors need not be “super wealthy” to participate and can be at the beginning of their investment journey, such as successful professionals or retirees.
AngelNV is empowering more people, not just the wealthiest in society, to make positive returns from a modest investment while also helping local startups get off the ground and succeed.
And most of these startups are in the tech industry. In fact, recent winners of the AngelNV grand prize investment are cutting-edge technology companies.
The first was SafeArbor, a female-
owned, Las Vegas-based company that produces a smart tech-based container system for storing, tracking and processing sensitive cargo in complex regulatory spaces, such as cannabis pre-order pickup. Last year, the grand prize investment went to SeeID, which uses a wireless radio frequency network for a real-time asset tracking system.
In addition to these grand prize investments, AngelNV has exceeded its investment goals, enabling it to award investments to runner-up companies each year. Many of the AngelNV investors also form their own separate investment funds to independently invest more capital in their favorite AngelNV companies, including startups that did not win any investment directly from the AngelNV Fund.
And this year, companies receiving investments through AngelNV and other capital funds associated with StartUpNV will receive matching funds from the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
This increasing level of investment in Nevada-based startups is a testament to the growing level of interest to support local startups and diversify our economy, especially within the technology industry.
Now is the time to continue the momentum—to continue building a more broad-based, homegrown angel investor network for startups in Nevada. AngelNV will start its angel investor bootcamp January 24. Interested investors can get more information about the bootcamp and angel investing opportunities at angelnv.com.
Jeff Saling is executive director of StartUpNV.
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