This year, the AI boom contributed significantly to the multiyear high in the percentage of U.S. venture capital funding that went to San Francisco Bay Area companies.

According to Reports, companies in the region have received $49.3 billion in seed through growth capital to date. That is the largest percentage in years, making up almost 41% of the total population of the United States.

To put things in perspective, we plotted the proportion of US startup funding that went to businesses in the Bay Area during the last five calendar years:

However, it should be highlighted that a larger portion of a much smaller pie is going to the Northern California region. All things considered, U.S. startup investment is 40% less in 2023 than it was during the same time last year.

The graph below shows that the San Francisco Bay Area also experienced a surge up to the 2021 peak, followed by a precipitous drop. Nevertheless, funding is down 25% from the same time last year, which is much better than the national average.

AI
Two letters can be used to describe the Bay Area’s comparatively stable funding: AI.

OpenAI, the largest fundraiser in the field, is based in San Francisco and has raised over $10.3 billion this year, mostly from Microsoft. About a fifth of the revenue for the region comes from that alone.

Amazon and Google are among the top investors of rival San Francisco-based AI unicorn Anthropic, which has raised at least $2.65 billion in disclosed funding so far this year. Additionally, Inflection AI, a Palo Alto-based company that creates substantial AI language models, raised $1.3 billion in a June financing round sponsored by Microsoft and Nvidia.

The fundraising frenzy coincides with the Bay Area’s growing prominence as a hub for artificial intelligence innovation. The Hayes Valley district of San Francisco is reportedly home to so many AI talent that it is now referred to as “Cerebral Valley.” This city is the center of much of the hype around AI. The fact that there is a high concentration of venture investors in the area also helps.

Smaller, early stage bets mixed with larger rounds make up the deal flow. According to reports, at least 27 AI-focused Bay Area businesses have raised rounds totaling $100 million more so far this year. However, of the more than 250 rounds in the area, over two thirds are pre-seed, seed, or Series A, with a median size of about $6 million.

The location is everything.
The Bay Area has performed admirably in terms of fundraising during a time when the area—and San Francisco in particular—has been the subject of frequent criticism. Pictures of expansive homeless camps, massive retail thefts, and other symbols of urban decay appear in certain news sources’ headlines and on social media.

In addition, there is the renownedly high cost of living. The median price of a house just reached $1.3 million, while the most expensive ZIP codes have multiples of that much for pads. In San Francisco, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment is approximately $4,000.

However, other attributes like the Bay Area’s scenic beauty, moderate climate, and cosmopolitan culture are all appealing, as anyone who has lived there would confirm. Being at the center of the action on a global scale is an additional attraction for tech workers.

Interestingly, the companies that do require in-person employee attendance are the biggest beneficiaries of funding. Similar to Anthropic, which claims on its website that “We expect all staff to be in our office at least 25% of the time,” the great majority of vacant roles at OpenAI are based in San Francisco.

Open positions at the aforementioned companies often start above $300,000, suggesting that they consider the fact that they are not located in an area with a low cost of living.