In the past year, several new initiatives have launched aimed at improving access to seed-stage capital for Louisiana startups. The New Orleans Startup Fund, the South Coast Angel Fund, Abstraction Ventures, and accelerators like the Idea Village, and Launchpad Ignition all aim to invest more money in local startups.
Throw in the tax incentives offered by the state and we should be much better off attracting seed-stage capital. But are we? Is all that really helping?
South Coast officially announced only one funding in 2011, while the Startup Fund announced funding both Kickboard (formerly Drop the Chalk) and adverCar. Many of the large funding rounds, like Fed Sample’s $2.8MSseries A, came primarily from out of state investors.
What do you think – is access to capital improving in Louisiana? Let us know!