Study finds Madison third fastest growing start-up city in the country

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The city of Madison is becoming a hot spot for start-ups, drawing money and entrepreneurs from around the country. The result is experts in the city tracking economic growth in Wisconsin’s capital.

According to York IE, Madison is the third fastest growing start-up city in the country, coming in ahead of places like Denver, Colorado, and Cleveland, Ohio. The report says start-up growth is up 793%.

“We’re seeing a start-up community that is rich and robust that is helping out other founders,” said StartingBlock Madison board member Scott Resnick.

Resnick has worked with entrepreneurs and on start-ups for the past 15 years. He says a lot has changed in Madison over the past decade. Resnick says part of what makes the city a cultivating place for start-ups is success stories, like StartingBlock Madison or American Family Insurance, helping new founders. The overall success is bringing in funding from across the country, which Resnick says has jumped significantly in the past decade.

“When we would see roughly 20 to 25 million in venture capital, now we see four to five hundred million,” said Resnick.

The support system and funding are why Benny CEO Andy Kalmon decided to come to Madison a year ago over places like Chicago, Illinois, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“So as I was contemplating leaving my nine to five job, I got connected with this start-up community in Madison, and that’s what gave me the confidence to actually go out and do this,” said Kalmon.

And President of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Zach Brandon says the start-ups bring jobs to the area. He adds it offers access to various job fields and helps keep college graduates in the state.

“Greater Madison is becoming a place of innovation and entrepreneurship and increasingly is becoming a national hotspot,” said Brandon. “Despite the pandemic, despite some of the economic headwinds that we have seen in more recent months, that Madison’s economy is growing at a pace that gives us a competitive advantage and is frankly outpacing the rest of the country, and that’s something we should all be excited about.”

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