Rankings from Midwest Startups, a job and news website for startups in the Midwest region, downgraded all five Iowa cities in its 2022 rankings.
Iowa City, which includes the Coralville area, experienced the biggest drop among Iowa communities coming in 38th and dropping 14 spots from its 2021 ranking. The Cedar Rapid-Marion area plummeted 10 spots from 42nd to 52nd.
The Quad Cities, which included Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, East Moline and Moline, finished second from bottom out of 59 ranked cities and fell three spots.
“Even though record amounts of venture capital have been raised, much of it appears to be on the sidelines as both the late-stage and IPO markets have cooled down – and with it a dearth of major acquisitions,” said Victor Gutwein, a managing partner with Chicago-based venture firm M25, on Midwest Startups’ website. “Call it a recession or just a correction, but the environment is clearly not what it was this time last year.”
Rankings were calculated based on access to resources, startup activity and business climate.
Access to resources includes how much each city has raised from VCs. the number of local investors, incubators and accelerators, universities, government support, and the quality, quantity and loyalty of available talent.
Startup activity is measured by the growth of startup formation in the last five years, the number of exits and the scale of large outcomes in the last 10 years.
Cost of living, labor costs, business tax friendliness, population, GDP per capita, proximity to an airport, number of non-stop flights, highway infrastructure and quality of internet access encompasses business climate.
Des Moines scored the highest in Iowa in the rankings but fell eight spots from 20th to 28th, below Dayton, Ohio and above Green Bay, Wisconsin. Ames dropped five spots from last year’s rankings from 30th to 35th.
Read more: Iowa has not experienced a rebound in entrepreneurship activity following the pandemic.
