IEDC touts entrepreneurship milestones in 2022
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Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers said Wednesday that 2022 was a record-setting year for entrepreneurship in the Hoosier State. Among the milestones outlined by the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the state saw a record 38 startups participate in IEDC-supported accelerators.
The startups themselves set new annual records by raising a total of more than $65 million in growth funding and creating 236 jobs.
The IEDC noted that Indiana was named Best State to Start a Business by Forbes in November, as well as six Hoosier cities being named in the 2022 Best of the Midwest: Startup Cities Rankings, including Indianapolis at No. 3.
Chambers said entrepreneurship is thriving in Indiana.
“Indiana is now the number-one best state in the U.S. to start a business and among the top 40 destinations globally thanks to the commitments of our state and the perseverance of our innovators,” Chambers said in a news release. “Today and every day, we celebrate the many contributions of our entrepreneurial ecosystem and look forward to supporting tomorrow’s businesses and breakthroughs.”
The IEDC also provided $18.5 million in tax credits through its Venture Capital Investment tax credit program, with nearly 50 new businesses being certified to use the program.
The Indiana Small Business Development Center was able to provide support to nearly 5,500 entrepreneurs and small businesses by helping them secure $110 million in capital. Those efforts led to the launch of a record 407 new businesses in Indiana, according to the IEDC.
In November, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the development of a new online portal designed to provide a variety of resources – both financial and non-financial – to Hoosier entrepreneurs as part of the new Global Entrepreneurship Week in Indiana.
The state also established Entrepreneurship Indiana, an annual publication that aims to “honor the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and inspire future founders and innovators.”
IEDC Vice President of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Julie Heath told Inside INdiana Business one of the state’s strengths is local connectedness among businesses and entrepreneurs.
“We are globally competitive in this strength,” she said. “We actually see now causation between getting help quickly and faster revenue growth. The way we’ve rephrased it in terms of this cultural strength here in Indiana is it’s ‘Hoosier Hospitality’ applied to entrepreneurship. The regions with the highest level of local connectedness accelerate all of their startups twice as fast in quarterly revenue growth.”
You can read more in the IEDC’s 2022 annual report by clicking here.