我不断听到有人谈论风险资本融资的地域竞争无关紧要，说什么硅谷、纽约和波士顿在创业者生态体系中都扮演着重要角色，什么风险资本只投资办公室方圆十几英里内的日子已经一去不返，地域竞争过时了，以及我们应该都加入Accela，放松一下紧张的神经云云。

    听起来很美好，但有些天真。

    公司在哪里获得资金当然很重要（反过来说，在哪里得不到资金也是一样）。决定创业的人们会移居到各方面条件对公司成长最有利的地方，资本可获得性是决定性因素之一。是的，如今有很多风险资本家都会长途旅行、寻找投资机会，但所有这些人肯定都希望最好还是在家门口就做成生意。而且，很多创业者也依然看重接到通知马上即可到公司的董事会成员。

    因此，根据合理竞争精神……波士顿不仅在风险资本投资方面继续走在纽约的前面，而且两者间的差距还在扩大。（注：硅谷仍是无可争议的冠军，因此这只是一场第二名争夺战。）

    根据MoneyTree日前发布的数据，今年第一季度马萨诸塞州有77家公司共筹得风险资本约5.83亿美元。相比之下，纽约有44家公司共筹得约4.03亿美元——融资公司数和融资金额的差距分别为43%和31%。而2010年第四季度时差距分别仅为22%和17%。

    第一季度，波士顿在“信息技术”领域的融资公司数也重获领先地位（35比34，而去年第四季度为43比55），虽然在融资金额上仍落后（2.25亿美元比3.31亿美元，而去年第四季度为2.76亿美元比3.61亿美元）。纽约信息技术领域的融资金额似乎略高于MoneyTree过去的报告数据，这可能是因为新的统计方法纳入了企业投资（一个早该实施的调整）。也可能是因为第一季度美国融资额最大的两家公司是纽约信息技术公司Beyond Oblivion和Appsense（波士顿公司无一入围前十名）。

    当然，所有这些并不意味着波士顿在风险投资方面将比纽约打出更多漂亮的本垒打。但这的确意味着波士顿上场击球的次数将较多……

    I keep hearing about how regional battles over venture capital funding don't matter. How Silicon Valley and New York and Boston all have important roles to play in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and how territorial battles are anachronistic pissing contests from the days when VCs only would invest within a dozen miles of their office. How we should all board the Accela and give each other back rubs.

    Lovely sentiments, but they're naive.

    Of course it matters where companies are getting funded (and, conversely, where they aren't). Prospective entrepreneurs migrate to where conditions are the most favorable for company growth, and capital availability is one of the determining factors. It's certainly true that many of today's VCs will travel far and wide to find investments, but all of them would prefer to do one in their backyard. Plus, many entrepreneurs still value board members who can stop by the office on a moment's notice.

    So, in the spirit of justified competition... Boston not only continues to lead New York in VC investments, but the gap has actually grown. (Note: Silicon Valley remains the undisputed champ, so this is a battle for second place)

    Seventy-seven Massachusetts-based companies raised around $583 million in venture capital last quarter, according to the MoneyTree report released this morning. This compares to 44 New York-based companies that raised around $403 million -- a 43% spread in deal volume and a 31% discrepancy in deal dollars. Those percentages were just 22% and 17%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2010.

    Boston also regained its lead last quarter in the number of "information technology" fundings (35-34, compared to 43-55 in Q4), although still lagged in terms of investment dollars ($225m-$331m, compared to $276m-$361m in Q4). Those IT dollar figures for New York seems a bit higher than in past MoneyTree reports, perhaps due to new methodology that includes corporate investments (a long-overdue change). Or perhaps because two of the first quarter's largest deals were for New York-based IT companies, Beyond Oblivion and Appsense (no Boston companies were in the top 10).

    To be sure, none of this means that Boston will produce more VC home-runs than will New York. But it does mean that Boston will have a few more times at bat...