The map of American private capital

1. Where private money is raised

Every US company that raises money privately under Regulation D files a short notice with the SEC, a Form D. It gives the state of the company's principal place of business.³ We counted every raise of $1m to $1bn by an operating company from 2015 to 2025, about 117,000 of them, and set each state's count against its population.^1,2

Two states stand out, and for the same reason. Delaware and Wyoming file far more raises per head than anywhere else: 19 and 14 a year for every 100,000 residents, against 4 in California. Both are states where many companies are formed without operating there. Our reading is that some filers give a registered address as their place of business, so their figures say more about where companies are incorporated than where they work.

Outside those two the map is familiar. Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington DC, New York, Utah, Washington and California raise most per head. The South and the Plains raise least. Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia file fewer than one raise a year per 100,000 people.

Drag the year and the map barely moves at the top. What moves is the middle of the country, and the South in particular.

2. The shift south

Compare the three years from 2015 to 2017 with the three years from 2023 to 2025. Nationally the number of private raises rose slightly, by about 3%. Underneath, the states traded places.

California filed 6,676 raises in the first period and 4,842 in the second, a fall of 27%. Massachusetts fell 19%, Washington 16%, Illinois 14% and Washington, DC by a third. Florida went from 1,191 to 1,909, up 60%. South Carolina rose 68%, Nevada 32%, Minnesota 31%, Arizona 28% and Texas 27%.

Measured as a share of every raise in the country, California has gone from 23.4% of US private raises in 2015 to 15.6% in 2025. Texas and Florida together have gone from 13.4% to 18.4%. The private market's centre of gravity is moving towards the states that have gained people and companies.

3. Where raises fill

The raises followed the companies. The money to fill them did not follow at the same pace.

For raises begun from 2022 to 2024, which have had time to finish, the share sold in full runs from 44% in Delaware and 40% in Massachusetts down to 23% in Arizona. California and New York sit at 38%. Texas, the second busiest state, is at 28%, and almost half its raises, 46%, sold less than half of their target. In Nevada it was half, and in Arizona 51%.

One explanation is the mix of industries. Texas raises more for property and oil and gas, and those raises fill less often everywhere. But the gap survives inside the same industry. Technology raises in California sold in full 39% of the time, in Texas 33%, in Arizona 30% and in Washington 28%. Real estate raises in New York sold in full 47% of the time, in California 38%, in Texas 27% and in Arizona 19%.

The more likely explanation is depth. A company raising in Boston or San Francisco is surrounded by investors who have funded companies like it before. They also write larger cheques: the median cheque is $589,000 in Massachusetts and $505,000 in California, against $200,000 in Texas. A company raising in Phoenix or Las Vegas has fewer such investors nearby, writes to more of them, and finishes less often.

4. What each state raises for

Each state's private market is shaped by what it builds. Switch between industries on the map below.

Technology is about a third of raises in California, New York, Massachusetts and Washington, and 44% in Washington, DC. Health and life sciences are 31% in Massachusetts, the highest of any state. Real estate is 44% of raises in Texas, 46% in Wyoming and around a third in Nevada, Utah and Washington. Energy is 12% of raises in Texas and barely registers on the coasts.

The mix matters because each industry raises differently. A real estate syndication is sold to many individuals in small cheques and is often advertised. A biotech round is sold to a few specialist funds in large ones. A state's private market inherits the habits of what it builds.

5. The spread of advertising

Since 2013, a company may advertise a private raise to the public under Rule 506(c), provided every buyer is a verified accredited investor. Few did at first. The share has risen every year since.

In 2015, 7.6% of raises claimed Rule 506(c). In 2025 the share was 16.3%. The rise is concentrated in the same states that gained raises. In Texas the share went from 12% to 21%, in Minnesota from 6% to 19%, in South Carolina from 8% to 20%. In Massachusetts it barely moved, from 3% to 4%.

Advertising is a sign of a raise looking for investors it does not already know. On the record it fills less often. Our note on advertised raises found advertised raises sell in full a third as often as the rest.

6. What it means for a company raising now

A founder cannot choose their state, but they can choose where they raise. Three things follow from the map.

First, the investors are not where the companies are. A company in Texas, Florida or Arizona that raises only from its own state is drawing on a shallower pool than one in Boston or New York. Its list should reach the states where its kind of raise fills.

Second, compare the raise with raises in the same industry, not the same state. A Texas technology company should compare itself with technology raises elsewhere, which fill more often, and ask what those companies did differently.

Third, advertising widens the audience but does not deepen it. In the states that advertise most, the share of raises selling less than half is highest. A short list of investors who already fund the asset is worth more than a public campaign to many who do not.

The full tables, state by state and year by year, are in the Ledger.

Cite as: “The map of American private capital”, Norvian Review, 26 October 2026.