Expert’s opinion: How are startups developing in the USA?  

Representative of IT Park Amalia Ergasheva took part in an educational trip to the United States as part of the “Uzbekistan Business Leaders” program led by “American Councils for International Education”.

Amalia decided to share her impressions of her trip and talk about the largest center of attraction for IT specialists, where she went, namely, about California.

 “Many startups are created in the US every year.  Here, business ratings for startups are very high.  Additionally, the number of business angels is increasing every year.  Angelic investments are a potential benefit for both entrepreneurs and investors.  According to the statistics, among American companies that received angel funds last year, the average amount of capital raised about $ 450,000. Investments include many sectors.  The highest levels of angel investment are in the technology and health sectors.  Nowadays, there are over 250,000 active business angels in the United States”, said Amalia.

The success of California as the largest center of gravity for IT professionals was because of many factors:

 - excellent business climate.  The most modern scientific and technical resources are available for work, the spirit of creativity and ingenuity is strongly encouraged;

 - high concentration of capital.  Here it is enough to simply start new projects and promote ideas, and if successful, bring them to international markets;

 - high motivating competition among specialists;

 - horizontal links between companies.

 Interesting fact

*About 40% of all American IT professionals work in California.

Innovation school “La Jolla Country Day School”

 In San Diego, an IT Park employee also attended “La Jolla Country Day School”, a private innovation school.  The school consists of a primary school (consisting of a kindergarten up to the fourth grade), a secondary school (grades 5-8) and a high school (grades 9-12).  During a tour of the school campus and innovation lab, school staff and students shared how the school’s innovation program encourages entrepreneurship learning and connects students with local businesses and the entrepreneurial community.  The school’s innovative program challenges students to identify real problems and develop innovative solutions that contribute to positive change in the world.

 “Children have been taught scratch and programming from the age of 6.  The high school program also includes project & product management.  There is an innovation laboratory, a robotics lab, a virtual reality lab, where students can create product prototypes and develop their startup projects accordingly.  Students who want to develop their own product enroll in an innovation lab, which has a 3D printer, a laser machine, a lathe, a milling machine, and other necessary resources to create a product prototype.  Also, a mentor is attached to the children (from among teachers in the field of robotics, IT, etc.).  Once every 2 weeks, the children are organized a meeting with a mentor according to their project (this is not included in the school curriculum),” pointed an IT Park employee.

School venture fund

 The school has its own venture fund, which is collected from donations of parents and local entrepreneurs.  Once a year, the school organizes startup pitches, where children present their own ideas (usually about 15 teams), and can receive money for the development of their startup from the above "venture fund".  The amount of investment can be up to $ 10,000. The jury can be teachers, entrepreneurs and parent-investors.

 Whether students are looking to start a business, launch a social campaign, invent any  technology, or create an art installation, the school offers mentoring from a group of local entrepreneurs and professionals and / or funding to help make students’ ideas a reality.

 The school also has its own career center.  The best high school students are given the opportunity to do internships in IT companies, engineering companies, etc. in the summer.

 “The development and support of innovative start-ups in the digital age is important for the development of entrepreneurship in the country.  Startups drive employment growth, which benefits the economy.  Today, Silicon Valley is not the only center of attraction for startups and the latest technologies in the United States.  The state of Texas is the second largest innovation center in the country”, points out Amalia Ergasheva.

Texas is considered as the second largest innovation hub

 The Texas economy is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the United States.  Today it is the ninth economy in the world and the center of US innovation with dozens of business incubators, accelerators and start-up support sites.  Many “Fortune 500” IT companies are headquartered in Austin or are currently in the process of relocation, including companies such as Oracle, Google, Tesla, Apple, IBM, Amazon, and others ones.

 Leader in the export of high technologies

 Texas is the leader in high-tech exports ($ 44.9 billion per year).  936,400 people work in the high-tech sector as well as in the information technology sector – more than 360,000. The number of IT companies in Texas is about 30,000.

 Accelerator “Capital Factory”

 While in Austin, the IT Park employee also visited the Capital Factory, one of the largest accelerators in the state.  On the territory of the “Capital Factory”, entrepreneurs can test new technologies, find investors and partners, participate in seminars and trainings. Additionally, “Capital Factory” invests in startups of various stages.  This accelerator has over 200 mentors.  The startup team can use the coworking space for free for 6 months.

 Accelerator “International Accelerator”

 Another well-known accelerator in the state is the “International Accelerator”, which offers a 12-month program to support and develop overseas startups.  Applications are submitted all year round.  During these 12 months, the startup receives absolutely everything it needs: visa support to come to the United States to participate in the accelerator, investments, mentors, housing, food, money for the development of the startup.  All this in return for 10-15% of the shares.  No more than 15 startups are accepted per year,in  spite of the fact that the annual number of applications from all over the world is about 1,000.

 Their portfolio also includes startups with a market value of over $ 1 billion which is called unicorns.  Quantum computing and cybersecurity startups are attracting the most investments.  IBM’s Robert Suthor estimates that there are about 100 startups in the world of quantum software, hardware, and even consulting.

How many unicorns are there in the world?

 According to the analytical bureau “CBInsights”, today there are 801 unicorns in the world.  These are companies whose market valuation exceeds $ 1 billion.  Totally, all the unicorns in the world are valued by $ 2 trillion 588 billion.

 The state is also renowned for its strongest support for start-up projects at the University of Texas at Austin.  Nowadays, the University of Texas has over 50,000 students, making it an ideal place to find new talent.  The university also hosts the Kendra Scott Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship (a graduate of the University of Texas and a renowned American designer and entrepreneur).  The Institute actively supports women startups.

 “Irrespective of the success of each individual enterprise, startups as a whole play an important role in promoting innovation, developing new solutions and creating jobs,” said Amalia Ergasheva, an IT Park employee.