Austin also has favorable ground for startups: in 2019, according to Crunchbase, local venture financing set a record of $1.8 billion.
In the first quarter of 2020, according to preliminary estimates, startups in Austin raised $434 million.
Among the CEOs of large companies who have recently announced moving to Austin are Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and Palantir co-founder venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale (Palantir itself moved its headquarters from California to Denver). Texas Governor Greg Abbott expects even more “migrants” in the near future.
“I’ve been on the phone weekly with CEOs all over the country, and not just in California,” Greg Abbott told CNBC. — The times of the coronavirus have shown a lot. They exposed that you really don’t have to be in Manhattan, for example, to engage in a trading or investment business.” The governor is confident that his state is the best state for business, and the relocation of companies here has turned into a “tidal wave”: “They are looking for a state that will give them independence, autonomy and freedom to choose their own course.”