Silicon Valley investors want California to secede from the US following Trump win

After Donald Trump's shocking and historic victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election to secure the White House, some Silicon Valley investors are calling for California to secede from the US. After it became evidently clear that Donald Trump was likely to become the 45th president of the United States, Uber investor and Hyperloop co-founder Shervin Pishevar took to Twitter posting a series of tweets announcing plans to fund "a legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation."

After Hillary Clinton conceded the election to Trump, Pishevar told CNBC that he is serious about the campaign, adding that the proposed independent nation would be called "New California."

"It's the most patriotic thing I can do," Pishevar said. "The country is at a serious crossroads... We can re-enter the union after California becomes a nation. As the sixth largest economy in the world, the economic engine of the nation and provider of a large percentage of the federal budget, California carries a lot of weight."

He also added that the US needs to "confront the systematic problems that this election has exposed."

Other entrepreneurs and investors including Cheezburger founder Ben Huh, Path founder David Morin and Design, Inc CEO Marc Hemeon also voiced their support for Pishevar's proposal as well.

Known as Calexit, Caleavefornia and Califrexit, the campaign for independence has been a political fringe movement. However, the movement has been gathering steam on social media after Tuesday's result with the group Yes California leading the charge. Launched in 2015, the group aims to put a 2019 referendum that would make California an independent country, if passed.

"As the sixth largest economy in the world, California is more economically powerful than France and has a population larger than Poland," Yes California said in a statement. "Point by point, California compares and competes with countries, not just the 49 other states."

Just days before Election Day, Evan Low, a Democrat serving in the California State Assembly, also tweeted saying that he would explore the introduction of a bill to have California secede from the US.

Soon after Trump won the election, Pishevar tendered his resignation as a member of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board saying he could not "serve with a good conscious" under President Trump in any capacity.

Over the course of the campaign season, Silicon Valley leaders have continued to voice their concerns about the possibility of Trump becoming president, arguing that he would be "disastrous for innovation," expressing their fears over his views on immigration and trade, and called him out on his behaviour and targeting of various technology companies.

Still, many in Silicon Valley expressed their sadness over the election result but said it is time to get back to work.

On Wednesday night, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a public statement on the election results saying, "This work is bigger than any presidency and progress does not move in a straight line."

"Holding Max, I thought about all the work ahead of us to create the world we want for our children," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. "We are all blessed to have the opportunity to make the world better, and we have the responsibility to do it. Let's go work even harder."