 The area's high technology ecosystem is supported by technologically-focused academic institutions including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute.Tech Valley grew from encompassing 19 counties straddling both sides of the Adirondack Northway and the New York Thruway, and with heavy state taxpayer subsidy, has experienced significant growth in the computer hardware side of the high-technology industry, with great strides in the nanotechnology sector, digital electronics design, and water- and electricity-dependent integrated microchip circuit manufacturing, involving companies including IBM in Armonk and its Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, GlobalFoundries in Malta, and others.As of 2015, venture capital investment in Tech Valley had grown to US$163 million.