How is it that Texas has four football teams currently ranked in the top 25 but is still ranked dead last in SSBCI deployment? The U.S. Treasury’s hot-off-the-press report on state SSBCI activity spotlights how states across the country are deploying capital to drive small business growth and innovation.
As of Q2, Alaska and Montana are leading the pack with over 90% of their total allocation deployed. Comparatively, Texas is at 1.7%. The report summarizes the progress of many states and tribal governments' efforts to put SSBCI capital to work for their regions and economies. For states struggling to deploy in order to unlock additional tranches of SSBCI capital, my previous post highlights a particularly powerful tool in this program: the venture studio.
Unlike a traditional SSBCI-backed venture fund—where capital is only considered deployed deal by deal—a state’s investment into a venture studio counts as fully deployed immediately. This means states can unlock their next tranche of SSBCI allocation much faster. Even better, states still have the ability to amend their Treasury applications, moving capital from other programs into a Direct Investment program to support studio creation.
A well-structured venture studio doesn’t just check the box on capital deployment. It creates, incubates, and spins out startups that form the backbone of new economic opportunity in the state. With the right design, studios and their spinouts can attract significant capital and together achieve the program’s key 10:1 leverage ratio.
This is also a moment for corporations to play a critical role. By co-investing alongside states in a venture studio, corporations not only help ensure the SSBCI program succeeds, but they also gain tangible strategic value. Studios can serve as engines of corporate innovation—where companies act as design partners, first customers, and providers of competitive advantages to emerging startups. It’s a win-win: states unlock capital and drive economic growth, while corporations gain earlier access to innovation pipelines and new market opportunities.
You can also see the growth of deployments over time in the visualization below.
If you’re a state leader or a corporate executive exploring how to maximize SSBCI’s impact to your region and simultaneously augment your innovation strategy, let’s connect. And Texas - let's git-r-done!
