When George Clute founded Olympic Venture Partners in 1982, the banker turned venture capitalist had to travel out of state to find promising new start-up companies to fund. The men behind the Seattle venture capital company Voyager Capital are, from left, Enrique Godreau, Tony Audino and Bill McAleer. Things have certainly changed. Partners at Olympic now spend more time crossing the 520 bridge than buzzing down to San Francisco. Venture capital, the gasoline that fuels technology, communications and biotechnology start-ups, is growing at a furious pace in the state.
More money is on the way.
And some say the Seattle metropolitan area, where new home-grown venture funds are popping up like tulips in the Skagit Valley sun, could become the fastest growth region in the country for venture investments this year. Those who follow the local high-tech economy say it could create an even bigger technology boom in Seattle. Partners at the firm's Carillon Point office used to joke that they saw every business plan in town. Now they can hardly keep up with the entrepreneurial activity. The firm received about 1,200 new business plans last year.