13 Dec Albuquerque “Surging” Ahead: Top 50 Cities to Start a Business in 2020
Quite the week for Albuquerque, which made the Top 50 U.S. Cities for Starting a Business in 2020, according to a study conducted by Inc. and entrepreneurship researchers Startup Genome. These “Surge Cities” leverage local assets, human capital, and development strategy to drive success, with interesting lessons to be learned in each case. Entrepreneurship through acquisition can be a savvy path to business ownership, side-stepping some of the associated risk. Learn about about businesses for sale in Albuquerque and opportunities to join the community of business owners who are enjoying the city’s advantages!
Here’s what Inc.’s write up has to say:
Startups are growing in this desert community thanks to high-density work spaces.
No. 12 Rate of Entrepreneurship; 19 Net Business Creation; 29 Wage Growth
The economic development puzzle is coming together in New Mexico’s largest city, with a shiny new innovation zone downtown called InnovateABQ. It includes a startup incubator, an 11,000-square-foot maker space, and tech transfer offices from all of the area’s research universities and national labs. It also boasts a state-run $20 million Catalyst investment fund designed to bolster local VC investment that’s already seeing results. One promising example, which has received Catalyst backing, is advanced medical lab startup BennuBio. Licensing technology from the University of New Mexico, the company develops and prototypes instruments on the InnovateABQ campus to measure the characteristics of cells. “We’re in the middle of the desert, so we’re resource constrained,” says John Freisinger, InnovateABQ’s executive director. Now with a physical space to bring together entrepreneurs and support organizations, he notes, collaboration within the startup community is getting more efficient. “It’s one stop and you can see what’s available,” he adds. Though Albuquerque’s startup ecosystem is still young, it enjoys a higher degree of founder connectedness than the global city average, according to a 2018 report from innovation policy startup and Inc.’s Surge Cities partner Startup Genome. That’s key to building a strong long-term entrepreneurship culture. –Lindsay Blakely
