Kentucky was in the middle of the pack when it came to ranking states by the average venture capital deal value last year, according to a recent report.
Online invoicing company Skynova analyzed National Venture Capital Association and CB Insights data for its 2021 "Unicorns and Venture Capital Activity in America" study. It found that while the state of California had the highest number of investments, Michigan actually had the highest average investment value at $23 million in 2020.
Michigan's average "was likely helped by huge investments into the automobile manufacturer Rivian," the report read. Rivian was recently valued at over $100 billion after the biggest initial public offering of 2021 earlier this month.
The average VC deal value in Kentucky was $6 million last year, tying for No. 12 on the ranking alongside Florida, Virginia, Alabama and Missouri. Indiana's average VC deal value was half that of Kentucky's at $3 million and Ohio averaged $9 million.
Click through the gallery below to see all the states in the top 10 and their average VC deal value.
U.S. states with the most VC activity
Average investment value per VC deal: $9 million
Average investment value per VC deal: $9 million
Average investment value per VC deal: $10 million
Average investment value per VC deal: $12 million
Average investment value per VC deal: $20 million
In Louisville, only a handful of companies raised more than $3 million in 2020, such as EdjSports ($5 million), Traffk ($5 million) and FreshFry ($3.75 million). Our region's biggest investments in 2020 included: DPL Financial Partners ($15 million in 2020, $26 million combined), Talaris Therapeutics ($115 million) and Waystar Health ($2.31 billion), which all likely beefed up that average deal value in Kentucky.
Take a look at Louisville's top venture capital funding recipients in 2020 here in the Business First list here.
