SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world's
most innovative companies and their investors, released its eighth
annual Startup Outlook report today. The U.S.
report is based on SVB's survey of more than 550 executives at
technology and healthcare startups in the U.S. and examines their
insights on business conditions, fundraising, hiring and public
policy issues, including the impact of regulation, taxes and
immigration policy. An expanded series of reports offers
international perspectives from startup leaders in the U.K. and
China. Nearly 950 executives in
total completed the annual survey that is intended to take the
pulse of startups around the world.
"There is more potential now for innovation than in the last 25
years, despite some political uncertainty in the U.S. and abroad,"
said Greg Becker, President and CEO
of Silicon Valley Bank. "We can attribute this to the breadth of
opportunity created by old world industries that are being
transformed by technology globally – whether you are in
San Francisco or Shanghai, Berlin or Boston."
Becker said, "This year's survey shows that access to talent is
a persistent challenge for startups. Although the stat dropped
slightly this year, 90 percent still say it is challenging to find
the talent they need to grow their business. With this in mind,
changes to immigration policy have the potential to add a new
complexity. One-quarter of the U.S. startups we surveyed indicate
existing government policies caused them to move operations
overseas, and of those, 38% cited U.S. immigration policy as the
reason. It's in the best interest of the U.S. to focus on both
education and high-skilled immigration to increase the skilled
talent pool for these job-creating companies."
The Startup Outlook survey was conducted in November 2016 immediately after the U.S.
presidential election. Most respondents are startup executives of
companies with fewer than 50 employees and less than $10 million in annual revenue:
Business Conditions
- 57 percent of executives believe U.S. business conditions will
be stronger than 2016; the number of respondents who think
conditions will improve year over year has declined by 25
percentage points since 2014
Fundraising
- 88 percent say raising money is "challenging" or "extremely
challenging," an increase over the previous three years
- 51 percent of startups say their next source of funds is most
likely to be venture capital
Exits
- 50 percent say they expect more M&As to occur this year, up
7 percentage points from 2016
- 53 percent of companies view an acquisition as their long-term
exit strategy, while 16 percent are planning for an eventual
IPO
Hiring & Diversity
- 90 percent say that finding appropriate talent is difficult,
down five percentage points from 2016
- 70 percent say they do not have women on their boards and 54
percent employ no women in executive positions
Public Policy
- While access to talent remains the top policy concern,
healthcare costs moved up and is now the second most-cited policy
issue
- 26 percent of respondents say that regulations prompted them to
locate facilities or move non-sales operations outside the U.S.;
the top reasons were immigration policy (38 percent), tax policy
(32 percent) and the regulatory environment (30 percent)
For additional survey data, including a closer look at hiring,
fundraising and respondents' views on public policy issues, please
visit: www.svb.com/startup-outlook-report/. U.K. and China survey results also can be found
here.
Follow the conversation on Twitter at @SVB_Financial and @SVB_UK
with #StartupOutlook.
About Silicon Valley Bank
For more than 30 years,
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their
investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted
financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation
centers around the world. With commercial, international and
private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of
innovators. Learn more at svb.com.
©2017 SVB Financial Group. All rights reserved. SVB, SVB
FINANCIAL GROUP, SILICON VALLEY BANK, MAKE NEXT HAPPEN NOW and the
chevron device are trademarks of SVB Financial Group, used under
license. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of the FDIC and the
Federal Reserve System. Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank subsidiary of SVB Financial
Group (Nasdaq: SIVB).
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SOURCE Silicon Valley Bank