RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – A new report from Crunchbase finds that North Carolina is the state with the second-highest increase, on a percentage basis, in venture capital invested in startup companies, behind Michigan, between 2016 and 2020. According to the data from Crunchbase, North Carolina firms brought in $4.1 billion in 2020, compared to $800 million in 2016, which is nearly a 410 percent increase. Of course, Epic Games raised $1.5 billion in 2020 in one mega-round, and AvidXchange raised a combined $572 million. Let’s not forget the rapid rise of nCino in Wilmington (now public) and other unicorns such as Raleigh-based Pendo. Without large funding rounds, North Carolina’s totals, and its rank among the states, look a little bit different.