Mapping the Research Triangle Innovation Ecosystem

A data-driven platform to discover, track, and grow startups, talent, and investment across the Research Triangle.
March 2026
Company Funnel
Research Triangle Startup Pipeline
490+
Startups
$100K–$15M
159
Breakouts
$15–$100M
55
Scaleups
$100M+
24
Outcomes
$100M+ rev / $1B+ val
Combined Enterprise Value
Research Triangle startup value has grown 4.4× in a decade
$37B
2016
$161B
2026
Unicorn Tracker
Unicorns and $1B+ Exits in the Research Triangle
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
19 Unicorns and $1B+ companies, of which:
9 exited via IPO
5 acquired
5 still pre-exit
National Benchmark
Research Triangle in the Breakout Tier
VC per capita · broken y-axis axis break 0 5K 10K 15K 20K 50K 80K Houston $1,236 Chicago $2,452 Miami $3,727 Los Angeles $5,279 RESEARCH TRIANGLE $7,403 per capita Seattle $8,181 New York City $10,277 Austin $13,279 Boston $24,516 Bay Area $72,312 MORE MATURE →
Building Momentum
$1K-$2K
Hitting Stride
$2K-$5K
Breakout
$5K-$10K
Powerhouse
$10K+
Research Triangle by Sector
SectorStartups BreakoutsScale-ups UnicornsDecacornsEnterprise Value
Sector Conversion
Breakout conversion by sector
0%20%40%
AI
38.9%
Semiconductors
35.7%
Robotics
33.3%
Biotech & Life Sciences
32.4%
Energy
30.0%
Consumer Services
27.3%
Other B2B Software
26.9%
Fintech
23.7%
Marketing
22.1%
0%20%40%
Health Tech & Medtech
19.8%
Food
19.7%
Other
14.5%
Cybersecurity
13.3%
Transportation
12.5%
Edtech
4.2%
Defence
0.0%
Space
0.0%
Beyond Biotech
Fast-emerging sectors in Research Triangle
As expected
Biotech &
Life Sciences
$64M
Early-stage · 2024-25
$365M
Breakout-stage · 2024-25
32
Recent rounds · combined
What's emerging
Space
Early-stage · 2 rounds
New
$12.9M
Defence
Breakout-stage · 1 round
New
$65M
Cybersecurity
Early-stage · 4 rounds
+510%
$9.9M
Robotics
Breakout-stage · 4 rounds
+215%
$39M
Energy
Breakout $70M · Early $4.6M
New
10 rounds
The Data Flow

Your Data In. Ecosystem Insights Out.

Share your data in any format. Dealroom enriches it and feeds it back as live insights for your ecosystem.

1
You upload
.xlsx
.csv
.pdf
email
Drop anything here
2
Dealroom enriches
Funding rounds
Valuations
Team & hiring
Investors
Sector & signals
50M+ data points
3
You get back
Live company profiles
Interactive dashboards
Ecosystem reports
Founder & investor maps
Sector insights & trends
What the Platform Delivers
A 360° View on Your Ecosystem
Talent
Headcount & employment
Job openings
Tech stack data
Founder & C-level profiles
Team composition
Innovation
Technology taxonomy
Patents
R&D projects
Startup success rates
Scientific research
Capital
Funding rounds & exits
VC, PE, CVC investors
Stock market data
LPs & family offices
Valuation multiples
Infrastructure
Universities
Accelerators
Grant programs
Coworking spaces
Events
Generating PDF...
Slide 0 / 0