Welcome to ‘The Startup State’ - a weekly bulletin from the GEN Policy and Research team highlighting key entrepreneurship announcements, reports, commentary and features from around the world.
News
- Singapore will inject S$1bn (US $792m) into the Startup SG Equity scheme to expand its support to growth-stage companies. Under the scheme, the government provides initial capital to catalyze private funding for promising Singaporean companies with global market potential (Tech News Asia)
- Egypt has launched the 'Egypt Startup Charter', the country's first government-backed framework dedicated to startups and entrepreneurship. The charter follows year-long consultations with government entities and 250+ ecosystem stakeholders under the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship (WAMDA)
- Rwanda has broken ground on the $2bn Kigali Innovation City, a 61-hectare smart city development designed to accelerate the country's shift towards a digital-first, knowledge-based economy (Ecofin Agency)
- France is now home to 1,114 AI startups employing 45,000 people, according to France Digitale's latest mapping of the sector. This represents a doubling of companies in two years (Maddyness - in French)
- South Korea has launched a new pathway to citizenship for highly skilled foreign professionals. The Special Citizenship Pathway is open to individuals whose expertise and experience are expected to make a long-term contribution to Korea's economy (Ministry of Startups and SMEs)
Comment and analysis
- Strong foundations are not enough: Dutch tech struggles to scale (IO Plus)
- Multiple-entry visas for VCs: Can Egypt's new startup charter slow founder exodus to Riyadh and Dubai? (Launch Base Africa)
- American culture and the decline of the digital spirit: Part 1 (Robert D Atkinson, founder and president, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation)
- India's startup ecosystem in 2026: Policies that hurt startups most and 'probable' ones they need (Tanay Kumar, contributor, SME Futures)
- Has Singapore made itself indispensable as a gateway for Chinese AI? (Aylon Berger, contributor, The Interpreter)
- The real drivers of startup economic power (Paul O'Brien, author, Startup Economist)
- Korea's "Zero-base Regulation" moment: Can a startup nation be built without breaking its old rules? (Dae-jung Park, KoreaTechDesk)
- Morocco wants to build AI that speaks for Africa (Rest of World)
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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.