Despite the presence of a vibrant high-tech community in Northern Virginia, the Old Dominion is a relative backwater in the venture capital world. But there is one exception, albeit a small one — Charlottesville. According to data published by economic geographer Richard Florida in the Atlantic Cities blog, when measured on a venture deals per capita basis, Charlottesville ranks only behind Boston among East Coast metros.

Florida argues that Silicon Valley, while still the dominant player in the venture capital arena, is losing its undisputed lead. Many venture-funded start-ups are popping up in San Francisco, Oakland, Boston, Austin and college towns like Boulder, Ann Arbor … and Charlottesville… where tech-savvy young people prefer to live.

It would be interesting to see how Charlottesville compared to Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech, with its excellent engineering program and technology park, but Blacksburg didn’t make the 100,000-population cut-off of the regions Florida examined.

Ranked by the venture deals-per capita metric, the Washington region does not loom especially large. Meanwhile, Richmond and Hampton Roads barely register on the map.

— JAB