The pandemic may have slowed down a lot of things, but it hasn’t slowed down entrepreneurs. A LinkedIn News report says COVID-19 kicked off “an entrepreneurial renaissance” for everything from big cities to smaller towns, across a long list industries. One notable trend: Women-founded companies grew the most by gender.

LinkedIn News’ State of Entrepreneurship report looked at the growth of companies founded between the July 2018 to July 2019 (pre-pandemic) and the July 2020 to July 2021 (mid-pandemic) periods.

Dallas-Fort Worth makes the Top 5 

Dallas-Fort Worth came in No. 5 on the list of fastest-growing cities for entrepreneurs, showing 40 percent growth.

The fastest-growing sectors among new Dallas-Fort Worth companies were in manufacturing, design, and finance. 

Greater Orlando topped the list with 46 percent growth, followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale (45 percent), Greater Tampa Bay (43 percent) and Greater Houston (41 percent).

[Image: iStock]

Dallas-Fort Worth among the top 3 in entertainment company growth

One other area where Dallas-Fort Worth really shines: New companies focused on the entertainment industry. LinkedIn’s report highlighted Greater Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale as being the top 3 growth cities in this area. Overall, entertainment companies showed 31 percent growth in the report. 

Female-founded companies grew the most by gender

Female-founded companies have been a definite, growing trend during the pandemic. Women-founded companies grew 27 percent from the pre-pandemic to mid-pandemic period. By comparison, male-founded companies grew 17 percent, and non-binary-founded companies also grew 17 percent.

“We know that women tend to go toward entrepreneurship as a driver of more work-life flexibility with their families,” Natalie Cofield, assistant administrator at the SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership, told LinkedIn News.

The top industries showing growth for women entrepreneurs include retail (81 percent growth), education (59 percent), construction (59 percent), finance (57 percent), and the arts (51 percent).

Austin makes list for women entrepreneurs; could Dallas be next?

Austin was cited by the report as being one of three top cities for the growth of women entrepreneurs in two industries: construction and health care.

Dallas didn’t make that list, but watch out next time. Last May, Dallas Innovates wrote about Mayor Eric Johnson’s Task Force on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and his “Build for the Future” agenda. 

“We can become the undisputed top city in the country for women entrepreneurs,” Mayor Johnson said at the time. “We can focus on growing representation in our startup community among historically underrepresented groups.”

Austin was also cited in the report as being one of three top cities for the growth of new companies in transportation & logistics.

Fastest-growing industries overall

What has grown most during the pandemic’s “entrepreneurial renaissance”? The report says education companies topped the list of fastest growing industries for entrepreneurs, with 74 percent growth. Retail came in second at 63 percent, followed by recreation and travel at 46 percent, the arts at 37 percent and transportation and logistics at 35 percent.

U.S. entrepreneurs by educational background

LinkedIn News also looked at the highest degree earned by founders on LinkedIn who launched new companies between July 2020 and July 2021. The result: Most U.S. entrepreneurs have really hit the books. 46.4 percent of the founders hold a Master’s degree or above (21.1 percent have a Master’s; 13.4 percent have an MBA, and 9.3 percent hold a doctorate). 

A further 46.4 percent list a Bachelor’s degree on their LinkedIn profiles. Only 9.8 percent list an Associate’s degree.

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