The coronavirus pandemic may have briefly ravaged the startup scene earlier this year, but Boston tech startups have quickly bounced back. In fact, 75 percent of local early-stage companies have rebounded to or exceeded their pre-pandemic revenue growth rates between May and November, according to a new report from Venture Lane put together by local data analytics company Toucan Toco.
That's the top-line takeaway from a survey of 51 Boston-based startups conducted earlier this fall. Three-quarters of the startups surveyed were B2B SaaS providers, and about two-thirds were pre-seed or seed-stage companies. (BostInno partnered with Venture Lane and several other local startup organizations to distribute the survey.)
That's not to say there wasn't significant disruption to startup leaders' plans. In May, 50 percent of the startups surveyed planned to raise funding in the next six months; by September, only one-third of those had successfully closed a round.
Startups were also forced to pivot their strategies to stay afloat. Most significantly, leaders dramatically shifted their focus to new forms of lead generation, including cold outreach, channel and affiliate partnerships and customer referrals. The companies surveyed generated nearly three times as many leads in September as they did in February, just prior to the pandemic.
“Our survey demonstrates the incredible resilience and adaptability of Boston’s startups. They have weathered an unprecedented crisis, and emerged stronger than ever,” Ross Palley, Venture Lane’s general manager, said in a statement. “By staying agile and exploring new ways of working, and supported by Venture Lane’s new programs for remote and hybrid teams, these startups are building a brighter economy for our whole region.”
Take a look at the full survey results here.
