A new phase of innovation has begun, driven by breakthroughs in frontier technologies. The coming years will require startup ecosystems to bring together capital, entrepreneurship, knowledge, frontier R&D, and science on one platform.
This is why we created a data-driven benchmark of 201 tech ecosystems across 3 lenses: Trailblazers, Science Hubs, and Rising Stars. It's the first time that we look at investment, entrepreneurialism, patents, science and talent in a 360-degree view!
Rather than measuring a status quo, this set of actionable benchmarks is meant as a tool to help ecosystems understand and measure their maturity and preparedness for the future.
๐ The top 5 Trailblazers ecosystems are the Bay Area, New Palo Alto, New York City, Boston, and London
๐งช The top 5 Science Hubs ecosystems are the Bay Area, Boston, Cambridge (UK), San Diego, and Oxford
๐ซ The top 5 Rising stars ecosystems are Bengaluru, Curitiba, Bogotรก, Mumbai, and Chennai
There are now 168 cities with at least one unicorn ๐ฆ, versus just 12 in 2010.73 in EMEA, 52 in North America, 11 in China, 18 in the rest of Asia, and 14 in the rest of the world.
The Bay Area no longer has a monopoly on VC-backed innovation. Its share of global VC-backed innovation has dropped from 40% to 20% and stabilized there. ๐
The Bay Area startups raise more VC than the next three cities combined - but when it comes to early-stage investing, the gap is much narrower.
Patents are an indicator of research output and help identify innovation hot spots. Tokyo, the Bay Area and Seoul top the list of cities by patents. ๐ฌ
But also...
Startup mafias everywhere ๐ฅท
Success breeds success. While the US has the famous "Paypal Mafia", the European startup family tree is growing too. In partnership with Accel, we explore the new wave of unicorn founder factories.
๐ฆ Of the more than 300 VC-backed unicorns in Europe, 203 have fuelled more than 1,000 new tech-enabled start-ups, with former employees becoming founders.
๐จโ๐งโ๐ฆ Familiar founder factories, including Spotify, Criteo and Delivery Hero top the rankings. However, a new wave of founder factories is on the rise with companies such as Babylon, SumUp, Conduit producing numerous new startups through alumni.
๐ More than half (56%) of companies founded by ex-employees were founded in the same city as the unicorn.
South by Southwest (SXSW) celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. Save the date for 2023!
๐ฆ๐บ May 1-4 , Melbourne, Australia
4,000 entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers from 200 nations, 3 days, with one mission. All converge to GEC Melbourne next year.
๐จ๐ฆ June 26-29, Toronto, Canada
Pre-register for Collision Toronto. Inc. Magazine sums it up: โExpect game-changing speakers, dynamic content, and great opportunities to network and connect with others.โ
Know an insightful tech event in your region you would like to highlight?