No. 31

Oklahoma City, OK

After the oil boom went bust in the 1980s, Oklahoma City’s locals wrote their own comeback story, approving multiple temporary sales-tax hikes to buck up the faltering economy and near-deserted downtown. Major capital improvement plans followed. Decades later, they’ve revitalized the city, which includes the new Innovation District, a neighborhood surrounding the Oklahoma Health Center that’s a hub for research companies. Meanwhile, nonprofit i2E has been funding and mentoring hundreds of local and state science-oriented startups for the past 20 years. One recent success story is Tetherex Pharmaceuticals, which raised $50 million earlier this year.