Despite the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and labor shortages, Philadelphia and its surrounding areas like Montgomery County experienced a venture capital boom in 2021, write Taylor Allen and Mike D’Onofrio for Axios.

According to the Philadelphia Alliance of Capital and Technologies (PACT), last year was “the highest market we have ever hit,” which placed the City of Brotherly Love in sixth place in the country in terms of deals.

“Philadelphia is a big community that has a growing and robust base of entrepreneurs, as well as capital sources in multiple industries,” said PACT CEO Dean Miller.

Last year, starting funding flowed into Philadelphia, which resulted in 441 deals valued at $8.1 billion. That was a nearly 300 percent increase compared with 2020.

In the fourth quarter alone, Philadelphia recorded 90 deals with a total of $2.6 billion invested.

Philadelphia also churned out several notable companies that managed to raise significant funds in the last year, such as GoPuff, and dbt Labs.

The metro area also recorded a number of exits, such as with Immunome and Annovis Bio.

The most venture capital funds in the region were attracted by the city’s booming biotech and enterprise technology industries.

Read more about Philadelphia’s venture capital boom at Axios.