More than just a popular tourist destination, Santa Barbara is a thriving center for young and developing businesses, notes Kenny Slaught. Dozens of promising, new startups have been founded in recent years, and many, including AppScale, LastLine, TrackR, and Salty Girl Seafood, have formed out of the University of California Santa Barbara. In the last year, over $200 million has been raised for area startups from private investors, and the Central Coast now boasts nearly twice the investment per capita in innovation than the LA metropolitan area, a significantly larger market. The tempting pull of Silicon Valley or Hollywood is not far off, but local entrepreneurs are recognizing the significance of building a business in a pro-growth environment. As a result, Santa Barbara is one of the best places in the country to launch and cultivate a startup, and has spawned remarkable biotech, medical, technology, and scientific businesses including Inogen, Raytheon, Sonos, and BioIQ.
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