Times Weekly, web staff
A new study has revealed Illinois as the fourth most influential state for African American tech companies.
The research by black social commentators That Sister studied 500 technology companies founded and led by African Americans in the past five years, including their headquarters’ locations and their total funding to discover the most influential state for African American technology companies.
Illinois comes fourth, scoring 7.8 points. The state makes up 7.3% of African American Tech’s total funding recorded in the past five years and holds the third largest number of companies, totaling 21. That equates to a company for every 594,000 people in the state and a funding total of $17.90 per person. Zing Health, headquartered in Chicago, is the most funded company, with $190 million.
Delaware is first with the highest influence score of 16.1 out of 20. It has seen total funding of $22.1 million raised by six companies in the past five years, which means the state is home to one African American tech company for every 168,000 people – the best ratio of people to companies out of all 50 states. The funding raised by the Delaware companies equates to $22 for each person in the state. The highest-funded company identified in Delaware is Stack Diagnostics, Newark, a provider of genetic diagnostic tests and services, and has received $18.8 million in total funding.
Commenting on the study, a spokesperson from That Sister said: “We are excited to see the progress of African Americans in the tech space – founding and building companies which are attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and investment. It’s fascinating to see which states are home to the most successful new African American-led tech businesses, and hopefully in future they will be joined by many more start-ups across the US.”
The study was conducted by That Sister, which provides fun, interesting & educational articles for positive black people and fans of the culture.
| TOP FIVE INFLUENTIAL STATES FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN TECH COMPANIES IN 5 YEARS | ||||
| STATE | PEOPLE TO BUSINESS | $ FUNDING PER CAPITA | INFLUENCE SCORE | RANK |
| Delaware | 168,333 | 22.0 | 16.1 | 1st |
| California | 496,020 | 35.9 | 13.4 | 2nd |
| New York | 340,526 | 13.7 | 8.7 | 3rd |
| Illinois | 594,286 | 17.9 | 7.8 | 4th |
| Massachusetts | 975,714 | 14.5 | 5.8 | 5th |
Data Source: Crunchbase
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