2016 Was A Record Year For Launch Of San Diego Startups

San Diego entrepreneurs established a record 477 new startups last year, up from 405 startups in 2015, and created 1,729 jobs, up 5% from the previous year. Among the top sectors were 280 software startups, 95 biotech startups and 63 computer/electronics firms, according to the latest San Diego Innovation Report released last week by the nonprofit Connect, a local startup accelerator. San Diego was the top city for number of biotech startups in 2015 as well.

One-hundred eighteen startups raised $1.5B in venture capital last year, up from $1.2B in VC funding the previous year. Of the $1.5B, $700M went to early stage companies. Angel and other non-VC investors provided $134M in funding for startups last year, nearly double the $74M invested in 2015. Meanwhile, federal research funding to the region’s universities fell in 2016, with National Institutes of Health grants declining 1% to $925M, and National Science Foundation awards dropping 17% from the previous year to $234M.

San Diego’s innovation economy has an overall $55B economic impact on the region, affecting more than 400,500 jobs throughout the county, and accounts for more than 30% of private sector jobs and more than 40% of the region’s workforce. In 2016, San Diego’s tech economy included 6,630 companies, which directly employed more than 150,000 workers, up from 135,500 in 2015. The average tech job paid on average $110K annually in 2016, 2.1 times the overall average San Diego salary, but down from 2015, when the average innovation economy wage was $115,300 annually.