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What are the top 10 cities in the world for startups and why?
Hello! Thanks for your inquiry on the top 10 cities in the world for startups.
The short version is that the top startup cities in the world, according to a recent and comprehensive study, are Silicon Valley, New York City, London, Beijing, Boston, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Seattle. The leading startup global hubs by venture capital invested are the San Francisco Bay Area with $11 billion, Boston with $3.1 billion, and New York City with $2.1 billion.
Below you will find a deep dive of my research / findings along with all the details for how I came to this answer.
METHODOLOGY
To answer your query I looked into rankings from reliable sources that include the top cities in the world for startups. There are many rankings available, and each of them provides its own sorted list. Among those lists, one of the rankings is frequently cited, the Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2015 from Compass, and it is clearly based on a detailed evaluation of the strengths and advantages of the different startup hubs. The last version of this report is already available, the Startup Genome: Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2017. These 2015 and 2017 rankings provide similar results, but the last one includes cities from Asia, and thus is really global in scope.
Therefore, I based my reponse on the 10 top cities included in the Startup Genome: Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2017. In addition, an interesting report provides the amount of venture capital invested in each of these cities.
RANKINGS OF STARTUP TOP CITIES
A representative sample of the published rankings of global starups hubs is presented below:
Business Insider follows the Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2015, and includes the evaluation summary of the original source. In addition, it BI includes some comments on each of the cities.
The Reboot ranking is well supported with hard data and analysis on four main factors: talent, government incentives, infrastructure, and notable companies.
Based on an analysis of an scholar from The Brighton School of Business and Management, Forbes presents a list of the best cities to launch a startup, including Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Warsaw, Moscow, Bangalore, Sydney, Tunis, London, Cairo, and Sofia.
The portal Inc. presents its own selection of top emerging global startup hubs, with London in the first place, followed by Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles, Boston, Singapore, Bangalore, Stockholm, Moscow, and Tel Aviv.
Based on a report from the Kauffman Foundation, and restricted to the US, this ranking is headed by Austin, followed by Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Houston, San Jose, Denver, and Phoenix.
This report provides a comprehensive analysis on the factors that are relevant to a startup ecosystem. In 2015, the ranking was as follows: Silicon Valley, NYC, Los Angeles, Boston, Tel Aviv, London, Chicago, Seattle, Berlin, and Singapore.
This update of the Compass ranking is clearly comprehensive and thus highly reliable. The analysis takes into account a large set of factors and, based on the previous reports of 2012 and 2015, goes deeper in the assessment of the different cities. As explained in our Methodology, this report is the basis of the response to your inquiry.
The report Rise of the Global Startup City focuses on a critical aspect of every startup ecosystem, the venture capital invested. The report provides the amount of venture capital in the main startup hobs of the world.
TOP TEN STARTUP CITIES WORLDWIDE
The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2017 based its analysis on five factors: performance, funding, market reach, talent, and startup experience. The report includes in-depth analysis of these factors. The summary of the results for each of the ranked cities is as follows:
Silicon Valley - San Francisco Bay Area
Silicon Valley is the global center of the worldwide startup culture It is home to between 13,000 and 16,000 active startups with a value between $264 billion, half of them founded by immigrants. Venture capital in Silicon Valley is estimated at $6.5 billion, while in the whole San Francisco Bay Area reaches $11 billion, over a quarter of the entire global venture capital.
New York City
NYC has between 6,300 and 7,800 startups valued at $71 billion. The city program START-UP NY provides tax-free operation for 10 years. Venture capital in NYC is estimated at $2.1 billion.
London
London has between 4,300 and 5,900 active startups, valued at $44 billion. Venture capital is around $842 million.
Beijing
Beijing hosts between 4,800 and 7,200 active startups valued at $131 billion. The Beijing authorities support startups with up to $100,000 and a city startup fund of $6.5 billion has been launched. Venture capital in Beijing is estimated at $758 million.
Boston
Boston hosts between 2,900 and 3,900 active startups valued at $30 billion. Venture capital in Boston is valued at $3.1 billion.
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv has between 2,200 and 2,700 startups, valued at $22 billion. Invested venture capital is $250 million.
Berlin
Berlin has between 1,800 and 2,400 active startups, valued at $31 billion. Venture capital in Berlin is valued at $178 million.
Shanghai
Shanghai hosts between 1,800 and 2,700 active startups valued at $42 billion. Venture capital in Shanghai is valued at $510 million.
Los Angeles
Beijing hosts between 3,700 and 4,600 active startups valued at $30 billion. Venture capital in LA is valued at $1.5 billion.
Seattle
Beijing has between 2,000 and 2,600 active startups valued at $13 billion. Venture capital in Seattle is valued at $727 million.
CONCLUSION
The top startup cities in the world, according to a recent and comprehensive study, are Silicon Valley, New York City, London, Beijing, Boston, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Seattle. The leading startup global hubs by venture capital invested are the San Francisco Bay Area with $11 billion, Boston with $3.1 billion, and New York City with $2.1 billion.
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