Welcome to ‘The Startup State’ - a weekly bulletin from the GEN Policy and Research team highlighting key entrepreneurship news, reports, commentary and features from around the world.
This is the final issue of the year. The Startup State will return on Friday, January 26, 2026.
News
- The European Innovation Council has announced 15 new board members and renewed five previous members as it prepares for a stronger role in supporting Europe's technological sovereignty (Science | Business)
- South Korea has published a venture fostering plan centered on nurturing 10,000 AI and deeptech startups and 50 unicorns by 2030. As part of this plan, the government will establish venture campuses in Silicon Valley, Tokyo, London, and other global hubs, and create ten 'startup cities' centered around Startup Parks across Korea (Chosun Daily)
- Ghana and the United Arab Emirates have signed a $1bn deal to build Africa's largest innovation and AI hub. The partnership aims to position Ghana as a regional technology powerhouse, combining AI, digital infrastructure and startup investment in what is being billed as Africa's largest integrated innovation hub (African Business)
- The United States' National Science Foundation has announced $3.9m of funding to sustain momentum in high-potential innovation ecosystems through a new Supporting U.S. Regional Growth and Entrepreneurship (SURGE) program (NSF)
- The United Kingdom has launched a 'Women in Tech' taskforce to champion diversity in the sector and to stem the estimated £2-3.5bn ($2.6-4.6bn) lost each year by women leaving tech (gov.uk)
- Morocco will invest $142m in 2026 to support domestic startups. The funding, split across business creation programs, venture capital, and the Technopark network, aims to help create 1,000 startups in 2026 and 3,000 in 2027 (Extensia)
Research and publications
- Albania Startup Ecosystem Assessment Report (Startup Albania)
- Tunisia Entrepreneurial Profile 2026 (ADB, EBRD and British Embassy Tunis)
- Unlocking South East Asia's Innovation: Bridging Borders for Startup Growth (ERIA)
Comment and analysis
- Why Riyadh and Saudi Arabia are rapidly becoming a global power house (Paul O'Brien, author, Startup Economist)
- Why South East Asia's startup failures are structural, not cyclical (Ziv Ragowsky, founding partner, Wright Partners)
- Unlocking policy innovation for economic growth: Five actions governments can take (Albert Bravo-Biosca, director, Innovation Growth Lab)
- Did African startups raise $1.1bn, $2.2bn, or $3.2bn in 2024? Why nobody knows and why that's a problem (Grace Ashiru, Tech in Africa)
Features
- The Builder's List 2025 (TechCabal)
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The opinions expressed in the articles above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Global Entrepreneurship Network.