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
- Somalia has launched a national network linking startups with incubators, businesses, and government institutions, part of a UNIDO-backed initiative that has already supported more than 200 entrepreneurs. (Ecofin Agency)
- Nigeria has launched the Youth Credit for Entrepreneurs Programme, giving Nigerians aged 18 to 35 access to loans of N200,000 to N2 million ($150 to $1,500) to support up to 500,000 young entrepreneurs. (Leadership)
- South Korea has confirmed former Naver CEO Han Seong-sook as its second-ever female prime minister, seen as a signal that a tech operator will drive President Lee Jae-myung's AI-led growth agenda. (Global Finance Magazine)
- Germany will create a state investment vehicle allowing the federal government to take direct equity stakes in defense and dual-use tech startups, as part of a broader Startup Strategy to improve financing and cut bureaucracy for new companies. (Bundeswirtschaftsministerium.de)
- New Zealand has refreshed its Founder & Startup Support Programme, appointing 14 providers to deliver coaching and accelerator support reaching more than 1,000 startups a year. (MBIE)
- The United Kingdom's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has moved AI to the centre of the government while dismantling the department built to house tech policy. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has been split up among other departments, while AI minister Kanishka Narayan has been elevated to the Cabinet, and former science minister Lord Vallance has been appointed to chair the Prime Minister's AI Taskforce. (TechRound)
Comment and analysis
- Is the age of purely private-sector AI coming to an end? (S. Yash Kalash, senior fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation)
- The world must decide how to govern AI while the decision is still ours (James Görgen, specialist in public policy and government management, Ministry of Development, Industry, Foreign Trade and Services of Brazil)
- Why Bangladesh innovates but rarely builds global companies (Subail Bin Alam, chief operating officer, Rancon Infrastructures and Engineering Limited)
- The UK economy would be boosted if large corporations invested more in innovation (James Mawson, founder and chief executive, Global Venturing)
- Why a startup ecosystem audit is where to start (not with another accelerator) (Paul O'Brien, founder, Startup Economist)
- Singapore's startup rise puts corporate venturing in sharper focus (Sainull Abudheen K, editor, E27)
Features
- Han Seong-sook faces Korea's next AI test (KoreaTechDesk)
- Thailand's scam epidemic is now a startup ecosystem problem (Tech Collective)
- Syria's startup ecosystem reaches milestone as Labby raises $10 million (Wamda)
- Who stole Bohemia? (Forbes)
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The opinions expressed in the articles above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Entrepreneurship Network.