Albuquerque, NM, May 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A recent foundational report put together by a leading angel investor group shows capital investment in New Mexico has seen unprecedented growth in recent years as the state’s sovereign wealth fund continues to commit significant dollars to impactful venture funds.   

New Mexico Angels, New Mexico’s premier organization of angel investors supporting startups and high growth companies in the state, on May 14 brought together leading startup and investor voices in the state to showcase the results of their groundbreaking “2024 New Mexico Venture Capital Report.”

The 27-page report highlights the recent growth of venture capital in New Mexico. Its key findings include the following:

• Capital investment in New Mexico startups has grown significantly, with a CAGR of 90% over the last four years.
• Deal count of identified venture investments in New Mexico has increased by 500%.
• Venture investing is taking place across a wide range of business sectors in the state. Bioscience at 40% leads by dollar volume, with aerospace, technology, and healthcare next, accounting for 40% combined.
• Exits remain low in New Mexico compared to other states like Colorado and Michigan.
• Pre-seed and Seed activity in New Mexico is robust, with decreased numbers from Series A to Series C rounds.

The report finds that much of the state's recent investment growth has backed promising companies, facilitated by meaningful local and national relationships. Further, the New Mexico State Investment Council, the state's sovereign wealth fund that has committed over $800 million to venture funds inside and outside the state over the past three years, has contributed to venture capital expansion in New Mexico.

Alongside these key findings, the report details a number of recommendations for continued venture capital growth in New Mexico, including increased support for later stage deals and exits, promoting awareness and connections to sources of capital, and expanding data-driven research.

New Mexico Angels commissioned the foundational research to generate a valuable, comprehensive source of data on venture capital flows in the New Mexico startup ecosystem, providing a baseline from which to illustrate the evolution and growth of New Mexico’s venture economy.

Four students from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute worked with New Mexico Angels staff and industry volunteers to analyze statewide venture capital flows in an effort to support diversifying New Mexico’s economy away from a reliance on oil and gas. The results of that analysis contributed to this report, which includes data up to the first half of 2024.

New Mexico Angels plan to update the New Mexico Venture Capital Report annually to provide accurate, meaningful information for investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders, including the New Mexico State Investment Council, which has invested close to $1 billion in venture funds over the past three years.

The full report and webinar recording can be accessed on the New Mexico Angels website at nmangels.com.

Quotes from New Mexico Venture Capital Report Webinar Participants
“We see this as an opportunity to take this data to start to promote and tell stories about New Mexico and our economy and our startup ecosystem,” said David Perez, New Mexico Angels Board Chair, who led the webinar presentation. 

“We think the basic story is that venture and high-growth startups in New Mexico are solid,” said Drew Tulchin, New Mexico Angels President. “It’s the best it’s been in many of our careers here in New Mexico. With everyone’s help and working together collaboratively—which is a New Mexico strength—we can see even more happen.”

“Antler is excited about the next year of company building in New Mexico,” said Cash Allred, Principal at Antler, a global venture firm. “We’re uniquely positioned to back emerging, home-grown entrepreneurs, as well as showcase New Mexico to our global portfolio of startups as a great place to operate.”

“I’m really interested in thinking about how we define biosciences going forward,” said Waneta Tuttle, Founder and Managing Partner of Albuquerque-based venture fund Tramway Ventures, which focuses on early-stage bioscience investments. “We have a challenge in this state to distinguish ourselves from every other state and city that has a biosciences interest, because it’s a big, important sector.”

“We’re pulling in capital from all over the world, if you will, through big venture capital firms,” said Hunter McDaniel, Founder and CEO of Los Alamos-based advanced materials company UbiQD, which recently raised a $20 million Series B round of funding. “This report is helpful to guide everyone involved—startups, investors, certainly the New Mexico State Investment Council, and other stakeholders in the state.”

“We focus on New Mexico. We do invest outside New Mexico, but about 92% of our deals have been New Mexico-based,” said Mark Fisher, General Partner at the New Mexico Vintage Fund, a generalist fund in the state. “We have invested in 30-plus companies, and we are right now the most active venture capital fund in the state. The bulk of the things that we’ve been focused on have been technologies coming out of the labs.”

Jacob Maranda
New Mexico Angels 
(309) 428-1436
jmaranda@sunny505.com