In 2017, a large number of D.C. area startups were self-funded or relied on family and friends to get off the ground, according to the Fosterly's 2017 Startup Census Report, which was released to the public Monday.
Based on responses gathered from the region’s startup community, 19 percent of respondents reported being bootstrapped or revenue dependent, another 15 percent reported being funded by their savings and 14 percent relied on friends and family. The number of respondents who used credit cards for funding tied with those who used angel investment at 9 percent.
Now, here’s where I’ll note why that might not be something to gawk at: Fosterly received over 450 responses from a variety of members of the region’s ecosystem, including data from startups, small businesses, high-growth companies, social enterprises, double bottom line businesses and more. While that's more than double last year's total of 217 responses, it appears that most who participated are in the early stages of their startup life.
For instance, 34.3 percent reportedly work at a co-working space, like WeWork or Cove, while 33.9 percent report working from a home office. On the same note, 29 percent have zero full-time employees and 18 percent only have one full-time worker. In all, 34.6 percent have two-to-five employees, including part-time workers.
"'Side hustles' have become a common way for entrepreneurs to test business ideas while maintaining the security of a full time job," Fosterly writes in the report. "The 2017 data set indicates this trend is continuing with 29 percent of respondents reporting zero full-time employees including themselves."
Fosterly, run by Adam Zuckerman and designed to provide resources to connect entrepreneurs in the area, released the results of its 2017 Startup Census at an event on Feb. 21, and the report was released to the public on Monday. Fosterly started the census in 2016, and each year, a team solicits answers to a myriad of multiple choice and open-ended questions about the Greater Washington startup scene. The census was open from Nov. 27 to Jan. 5 for responses.
Now, it's impossible to report on every single last figure in the 95-page report in one story, so here are a few key details found inside of it:
- 29 percent of founders are women, down from 31 percent in 2016.
- 64.6 percent of founders identify as white, while 11.3 percent are Asian and 9.6 percent identify as Black or African American.
- 8.4 percent report attending Johns Hopkins University. Another 7.4 percent attended the University of Maryland, down from 9 percent in 2016's report.
- 80 percent of startups offer a remote work option to employees.
- 73 percent of startups have raised money outside of the DMV.
(An important note: It is difficult to make completely accurate comparisons between the two surveys given the percent change in the number of respondents, and the fact that the survey didn't ask identical questions in each year.)
To dig through the report yourself, head to Fosterly’s site.
