Nicklaus: St. Louis is no longer flyover country for venture capitalists. It’s a cover story | David Nicklaus

Mason said her firm, which invests outside the traditional venture capital hotbeds, had noticed more investors looking at the same deals. “It was heartening to see the data reveal what many of us were experiencing,” she said. “You really see the needle moving away from pure Silicon Valley dominance.”

Carter Williams, chief executive of St. Louis-based iSelect Fund, said rising costs in Silicon Valley forced coastal investors to broaden their horizons. “There’s a lot more talent throughout the country than was understood before,” he said.

The report shows that several heartland cities are ahead of St. Louis in attracting venture money. Dallas and Denver, for instance, will each pull in more than $1 billion this year.

Brian Matthews, co-founder of Cultivation Capital in St. Louis, thinks his hometown will continue moving up in the standings. “It really takes 20 years to get the ecosystem completely mature, and we’re still in the middle of the road,” he said. “The flywheel is starting to turn.”

One of St. Louis’ strengths is that it has local sources of capital to nurture firms until they get noticed by coastal investors. Arch Grants, BioGenerator, Cultivation, the St. Louis Arch Angels and others fill that role.