Big news struck the US financial sector this month: The New York based startup Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade unique items, made its initial pulic offering (IPO) at a valuation of $1.8 billion. Even more thrilling, it saw its shares and market capitalization almost double on Nasdaq the first day of trading.

 

Yuliya Chernova from Wall Street Journal describes this IPO conveniently as „Milestone for New York’s Startup Scene”. One reason is that big exits bring in cash, which will allow venture capital investors to spend that money on new venture while staying in the region. Her analyses completes particularly well our previous article in VentureBeat “Why New York City is the best choice for European Startups”. To sum up, we see New York as the place to be for any European startup identifying itself as a “born global” and the aim to scale globally. The City has some huge advantages:

 

1. It has one of the strongest financial ecosystem worldwide. New York alone places more than half of Europe’s venture capital capacity and has a powerful banking sector.
2. The average investment size is much bigger in NYC than it is in Europe, making the city the hotspot for later stage investments.
3. New York has a strong Corporate Venture scene.
4. With “Start-up NY” the city government is offering “tax-free zones” for qualified business within the first years of the company. Simply unimaginable in any of Europe’s high tax countries!
5. 52 of 500 Fortune companies are in New York.
6. Last but not least, New York is on the East Coast and is much closer to Europe than the Silicon Valley on the West Coast. Time difference matters if you work daily or weekly with off-shore teams in Europe.

The combination of these six arguments is the reason why we opened an Office in New York City. Alongside of other European investors, we are already seeking to create a landing platform in New York. Read more about this topic on VentureBeat.