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After highlighting the demographics of startups going through our invite-only Funding Recommendation Engine.  Our friends at BlackWeb2.0 (you should follow them on twitter here) shared the FRE with BlackWeb2.0′s readers in an article entitled “ChubbyBrain Plays Funding MatchMaker for Entrepreneurs“ and so today, we wanted to offer some insight into the startups that came to us via BlackWeb2.0 and compare them to the aggregate startup demographics we’d shared last week.

BlackWeb2.0 Startups Are From Atypical Geographies (ZERO from Silicon Valley or Massachusetts)

Our aggregate statistics for the 1100+ entrepreneurs going through the Funding Recommendation Engine showed the top five areas startups using the FRE coming from New York, Silicon Valley, Washington state, Southern California and Massachusetts.  These markets can be called the usual suspects for startups and venture capital financing.  BlackWeb2.0′s startup readership came from several geographies but notably absent were Silicon Valley, Massachusetts and Washington.  North Carolina came in tied at #1 with New York.  Angela and team know the site’s readership better than we do so we’re curious as to their theories on what drives this very different geographic breakdown.

BlackWeb2.0 Startup Founders Tended to be Younger Relative to National Startup Stats

Our aggregate stats showed 67% of startups with 10+ years of experience while BlackWeb2.0 startups came in with 53% having more than 10 years of experience.

Entrepreneurs’ Educations In-Line With National Average

Similar to our aggregate statistics, BlackWeb2.0 startup founders were extremely well educated with 88% having at least a Bachelor’s degree and 41% having a Master’s degree.  This exactly mirrored the national startup demographics which which showed 88% of startup entrepreneurs had at least a bachelor’s degree.

BlackWeb2.0 Startup Founders’ Companies Further Along Than Our National Stats

Over 1/2 of startups seeking funding in our aggregate stats were in the idea/concept stage or product/prototype development stage while a bit fewer BlackWeb2.0 startups were in the early stage.  In contrast, BlackWeb2.0 startups had a higher number operating with revenue (23%) than the national average (17%).

Vast Majority of BlackWeb2.0 Startups Have Not Raised Funding

Despite the fact that over 1/2 of BlackWeb2.0 startup have launched, have traction and/or revenue, a significant number, almost 9 of 10 (88%) had not received any funding from venture capitalists, angel investors or government grant programs. This was much greater than aggregate statistics which saw 63% of startups not being funded.  Given the maturity of many of the startups, BlackWeb2.0 startups were notable in that many seem to have gotten somewhat far along without external financing of any kind to-date.  This sample also confirms some of the findings in the Venture Capital Human Capital report from earlier this year.

Internet and Mobile Companies Lead the Way (No Surprise)

As might be expected given BlackWeb2.0′s content (not to mention the word “web” is in their name), it’s no surprise that almost half of the ventures being submitted by their readers were internet businesses (which was in line but a bit lower than 49% national average).  BlackWeb2.0 startups did have a larger share of mobile software & services startups compared to national states.  There was a greater amount of diversity amongst sectors that emerged from the BlackWeb2.0 readership as can be seen by the very large other bucket which includes all categories with less than 6% share including more offline industries including consumer products & services, retail and restaurants amongst others.

If you are looking for funding, you really should sign up for a Funding Recommendation Engine invite. In the meantime, you may want to check out our educational guides on venture capital, angel investment and investor reverse due diligence.