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
- The United States has launched the Tech Corps, an initiative recruiting technologists to serve in the Peace Corps to help countries around the world harness American artificial intelligence to enhance opportunity and prosperity for their citizens (Peace Corps)
- France's CDC, the state's financial arm, has set out its desire to "bring about European digital champions" by participating in the IPO of 5-10 French tech companies by 2030, as part of a broader $19bn (EUR 18bn) plan for digital technology (Maddyness - in French)
- South Korea aims to expand the role of startups in the defense sector with a plan to support 100 startups active in defense markets and foster 30 high-growth ventures with annual revenues exceeding $70m (KRW 100bn) by 2030 (MSS)
Research and publications
- The geography of higher education
This special issue of Regional Studies, guest edited by Raffaele Trapasso (OECD), Giulia Ajmone Marsan (ERIA), Andres Rodriguez Pose (LSE), and John Goddard (University of Newcastle), explores how universities can become place-responsive actors and support innovation, entrepreneurship and growth in their networks and communities. - GEM 2025/2026 Global report: From uncertainty to opportunity
The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor global report finds record startup activity but warns of growing AI and survival gaps. The report is based on responses from over 160,000 individuals across 53 economies.
Comment and analysis
- Trading startups for statutes: Why technologists are choosing a year on the Hill (Bradford Fitch, author, Citizens' Handbook for Influencing Elected Officials)
- Sweden's AI strategy won't keep its best founders at home (Joel Hellermark, Johannes Schildt, Anton Osika and Fredrik Hjelm)
- Why homegrown startups outlast returning diaspora founders in India's startup race (Vivek Wadhwa, academic, entrepreneur, and author)
- Startup cities need to measure and expect outcomes, not activity. Here's how (Paul O'Brien, author, Startup Economist)
- Reimagining competition: The role of modern competition policy in an uncertain world (Sarah Cardell, chief executive, UK Commission and Markets Authority)
- Taiwan's AI Basic Act can be a model for Asia (Charles Mok, research scholar, Cyber Policy Center, Stanford University and Chen-Tso Chu, research fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center)
Features
- The diaspora founder formula behind Cote d'Ivoire's most prolific venture studio (Launch Base Africa)
- Sweden's Founders House launches in Helsinki to build Finland's next global tech giants (tech.eu)
- A new index wants to make African private tech visible to global capital (TechCabal)
- Not resilient, strategic: The reality of Ukraine's tech ecosystem four years on (tech.eu)
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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.