Silicon Valley Remains King Of Venture As New York Gains On New England

Silicon Valley is tops–no doubt about it. But back East, there’s a fight shaping up for the country’s second-best VC city.

However, a close examination of first quarter data show Silicon Valley regained ground as the center of the venture business while New York continued to give New England a run for its money. The investment data come from the MoneyTree Report issued last week by the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers, based on data from Thomson Reuters, publisher of this blog.

Valley startups attracted 42.6% of venture dollars during the first three months of the year, up from 39% last year. For comparison, in 2000, Silicon Valley startups corralled 32% of U.S. venture dollars.

That makes valley companies the largest magnet for venture investing by far. In the first quarter alone they attracted $2.5 billion.

In second place is New England with $639 million, or 10.9% of the $5.87 billion invested during the first three months of the year. That is down from 11.2% in 2010.

While New England slipped, the New York metro area gained. It accounted for $580 million of investments, or 9.9% of the total. The New York share rose from 8.4% last year as Internet and media companies continue to attract GPs from the other side of the country.

Next in line is the L.A-Orange County area, which attracted $393 million.

New York continues to make a name for itself as a center for venture investing, but the advice for entrepreneurs remains unchanged. Want to start and fund a company? Go west, young man.