Startups should seek investment from both coasts, Philadelphia has strengths: Philip Moyer of Safeguard Scientifics

The Silicon Valley may still be the hub for big technology ideas and investment, but startups that ignore the commercialization strengths of the Northeast may be missing out on big money, says Safeguard Scientifics managing director Philip Moyer in a story for VentureBeat.

Of all the venture-based investment in the country, just a third is being invested in Silicon Valley, Moyer writes. While big compared to other individual markets, the logic goes, it doesn’t represent the majority of the country’s focus.

Safeguard Scientifics is the Wayne-based life sciences and IT investment company that developed its reputation as among the region’s biggest players in the run up to the 1990s-era dot com boom.

In the meantime, the traditionally conservative venture community on the East Coast is starting to change its ways, Moyer says, thanks to the commercialization opportunities that are available in the Northeast.

Philadelphia, as well as New Jersey and New York are key locations for some startups because of the media and telecom giants that call that area home, he says.

“Headquartered in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia are Time Warner, Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, as well as numerous other agencies, publishing companies, and marketing firms,” he writes. “These firms represent a gold mine for advertising technology companies.”

For it’s part, Pennsylvania also has other strengths in healthcare and manufacturing and industrial commercialization, VentureBeat reports.

When it comes to investment, Philadelphia startups tend to look for money where they live, or move for bigger resources. But with such complementary strengths on either coast, a bicoastal approach could may make that decision less of a zero-sum game.