Boulder may be the state’s go-to city for startups, but Fort Collins apparently can hold its own — against Austin, Texas, Boston and even Denver.
The city of 152,061 people ranked No. 6 in NerdWallet’s ” America’s most innovative tech hubs.” Boulder took the No. 2 spot, but other well-known tech cities came in much lower than Fort Collins: Austin landed at No. 8, Boston at No. 10 and Denver at No. 14.
NerdWallet looked at three factors: patents per 1,000 residents, venture capital per capita and something called “tech startup density.” The latter gave Fort Collins the edge.
“Austin actually beat out Fort Collins in the VC funding data point by a long shot and edged out Fort Collins by a smaller margin in terms of technology-class patents granted,” said Courtney Miller, analyst for NerdWallet, which started with 190 cities.
“Where Fort Collins shines is in terms of tech startup density. When controlling for population, Fort Collins actually has three times the national average amount of tech startup births each year,” she said. “This is a huge sign of innovation and tech growth in the area.”
The figure comes from the number of new tech companies created during the year compared to the city’s population. That number is then compared to the similar statistic for the U.S., which becomes the city’s tech density.
That put Fort Collins’ tech-density at 3.0, ahead of both San Jose, Calif., and San Francisco, which had scores of 2.6 and 2.4, respectively. Using “tech density” helped smaller cities rise to the top and that’s what NerdWallet wanted to allow for.
That helped Corvallis, Ore. rank at No. 4 and Provo, Utah at No. 7. San Jose was No. 1.
Fort Collins, home to Otter Products and Advanced Energy Industries, has developed into a start-up friendly city. Last year, it hosted its first Startup Week. The next one is scheduled for May 26. There’s also Innosphere, a science and technology incubator.
“Silicon Valley obviously is well known as a tech-heavy innovation area. Fort Collins and Boulder are more of a Silicon secret,” said David May, CEO of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s nice to see the recognition we’re getting.”
Tamara Chuang: 303-954-1209, tchuang@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Gadgetress
NerdWallet: America’s most innovative tech hubs
Cities and their “total score,” which considers patents, venture capital and “tech startup density”
1. San Jose, Calif., 80.1
2. Boulder, 54.6
3. San Francisco, Calif., 53.7
4. Corvallis, Ore., 26.3
5. Seattle, Wash., 21.9
6. Fort Collins, 21.8
7. Provo, Utah, 20.8
8. Austin, Texas, 19.6
9. Burlington, Vt., 19.4
10. Boston, 19.0
Source: NerdWallet.
