(August 18, 2020 – Tucson, Arizona) As of January 1, 2020, Crunchbase data shows Denver at $249,598,480 in venture funding, which is one-third less than Phoenix, Arizona, #8 on Inc. Magazine’s top 10 best cities for startups in the US.
As of August 1, 2020, there has been $383,985,321 in venture funding in Phoenix this year, to include angel, pre-seed, seed, venture capital (series A, series B, series C), crowdfunding, and private equity. Interestingly, 25% of the seed investments in Phoenix are over $1 million in funding, with one deal over $2 million. Venture capital alone is on fire in Arizona, showing over $255 million invested in Phoenix which is $44 million more than Denver.

Shot Ventures published the new stats in an article called “Phoenix Beats Denver in 2020 Venture Funding Deals, But There’s A Problem…“, highlighting the firm’s goal to help both founders and funders to increase their visibility in the Southwest. By doing so, there can be more access to opportunities for funding and commerce generated within local Arizona economies. Managing Partner, Dominique Villela, kicks off the 2020 series on the challenges that the state and its startups are facing when it comes to attracting funding:

 The biggest challenge Arizona has is to ‘tell the story’ and that simply means with more documented success stories, we can not only encourage new startups (and innovators),  but drive interest from local and out-of-state investors. Venture capitalists in Arizona need to be proud of the work they’re doing and investors need to be talking more with each other about the opportunities here, but that comes with being more visible online – and reporting their successes online.

Villela says that his firm will be teaming with other venture capital firms (local and out-of-state) and tech executives to share their story about their successes in Arizona – both raising capital and investing in startups. The firm’s goal is to share answers to questions asked most regularly on funding calls:

• Are companies getting venture funding in Arizona? Who is getting funded?
• Who is actively deploying capital in Arizona? Who is funding?
• Is raising capital in Arizona any different than other states?
• Do Arizona startups need to raise capital from out-of-state?
• What is the best way to get started with raising capital?
• How does investor relations and marketing play a role in fundraising?
• What investor documents are needed to raise capital?
• Why is investor feedback so valuable before raising capital?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of investing in Arizona startups?
• What do startups need to beware of when it comes to raising capital?
• What resources are there in Arizona that are worth participating in?

The series kicks off today, and runs for 6 weeks, with a combination of interviews, podcasts, video, and articles. You can connect with Dominique Villela on LinkedIn for more information or read the first article in the series on Medium.com >