Venture capital. It’s a phrase that can conjure images of celebrations marking paydays for innovators and payoffs for investors. However, there are no guarantees that funding will move a company ahead in its lifecycle or that those with the deep pockets will ever see a penny in return.
So how do Arizona’s two largest metro areas stack up when it comes to opportunities for STEM positions? The answer is, pretty well. WalletHub ranked Tucson No. 21 and Phoenix No. 38 among the country’s top 100 most populous metro areas.
Stanislau Herasimenka, an electrical engineering assistant research professor in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, and his ASU colleagues recently earned funding to increase solar manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. by developing a PV innovation foundry, a collaborative facility to help industry and academic users test their ideas on a pilot scale.
There was a time when securing risk capital was an elusive desire of many technology firms in Arizona. They knew they wanted it. They along with observers like me knew they needed it. Fortunately, the needle is moving in the right direction.