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.
For those of you in the Northern hemisphere, I hope you had a wonderful summer! This is a bumper issue to catch up on developments over August. The Startup State now returns to its usual weekly publication schedule until Christmas.
News
- Thailand has announced a ‘4D’ policy to increase the digital contribution to its GDP to 30% by 2030. The policy includes initiatives to establish digital hubs in each region, attract international digital talent, support digital entrepreneurs, and prepare students for future careers (The Nation)
- India’s Karnataka state government is to launch an entrepreneurship program providing 25,000 rupee ($297) monthly stipends to aspiring entrepreneurs who quit their jobs to start a business (Startup Story)
- Ukraine has approved a new three-year SME development strategy that focuses on restoring and facilitating the process of doing business; innovative development, digital transformation and green transition; human capital and entrepreneurship development; and improving competitiveness and increasing exports (Government of Ukraine)
- European Union stock exchanges including Deutsche Börse and Euronext, together with startup associations including France Digital and the European Startup Network have called upon policymakers to boost Europe’s IPO market to provide its best tech companies with a favorable environment to go public at home, rather than in the US (Sifted)
- Canada has abruptly suspended the peer review process for the Start-Up Visa Program, making immigration officers solely responsible for deciding the validity of applications. Stakeholders fear that without access to industry experts, immigration officials could now struggle to evaluate the validity of applications (Immigration.ca)
- The United Kingdom’s innovation agency faced significant backlash online after awarding just half the number of promised grants to women business owners. 1,452 women entrepreneurs applied for 50x £75,000 ($99,000) grants, but only 25 winners were announced. Innovate UK has since backtracked and committed to award all 50 grants (Startups)
Research
- Economic ripple effects of startups
This Japanese Government survey examines the economic and social impact generated by startups, to help guide future startup policies. It finds that startups have generated 10.47 trillion Yen ($73.48bn) in GDP or 19.39 trillion yen ($136.15bn) if indirect ripple effects are included, and created 520,000 jobs. - Fostering innovation in low- and middle-income countries through challenge funds and prizes
This OECD report reviews the impact of challenge funds and prizes, suggesting they enhance local innovation ecosystems and government capabilities, particularly in low-income countries. - A techno-economic agenda for Canada’s next federal government
This Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report sets out a policy agenda to turbocharge Canada’s economy by making it more innovative, productive, and globally competitive. - How to build your own Silicon Valley: A DIY guide for governments
This satirical guide published by Burak Buyukdemir, founder of Startup Istanbul sets out what (not) to do to nurture entrepreneurship.
Comment and analysis
- Japan should go big or go home on startups (Catherine Thorbecke, columnist, Bloomberg)
- How many startup organizations does Europe need? (Mimi Billing, Europe editor, Sifted)
- Polish tech: Grand ambitions on a shaky foundation (Maciej Bukowski, non-resident fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis)
- Securing innovation in an epoch of geopolitical competition (Dr Neil Ashdown, head of research, Tyburn St Raphael and Natasha Buckley, research analyst, Cyber)
- How the Pentagon built Silicon Valley (Stavroula Pabst, contributor, Responsible Statecraft)
- The lessons the next French government should take to nurture a thriving tech ecosystem (Louis Dussart, VP, RTP Global)
- Why Australia’s governments need to lean in and step up to back female founders (Anne-Marie Ellis, co-founder, Techfugees Australia)
- Is Turkish fintech about to have a breakout moment? (Tom Matsuda, reporter, Sifted)
- Startups are making the global gig economy bigger. But can they make it better? (Rahil Rangwala, managing partner, Accion Venture Lab)
- Corruption holds small businesses back: Ghana study reveals two strategies to avoid the traps (Samuel Adomako, associate professor of strategy and innovation, University of Birmingham and Joseph Amankwah-Amoah, professor of international business, Durham University)
- I lead a major bank in Kenya. Here’s why we invest in Africa’s women entrepreneurs (Annastacia Kimtai, MD, KCB Bank Kenya)
Features
- NZZ: Is India the world’s new growth engine as many in the West believe?
- India Business Law Journal: Why India’s unicorns have bolted
- Rest of World: How Bangladesh’s tech industry navigated an unprecedented political crisis
- Sixth Tone: Raised by ‘wolves’: The rise of China’s cutthroat startup scene
- Nikkei Asia: Japan’s startups struggle to grow past ‘2nd death valley’
- Business Times Singapore: Can China tech find a home in Silicon Valley?
- Time: How ‘friendshoring’ made Southeast Asia pivotal to the AI revolution
GEN Atlas insights
The GEN Atlas is the world’s largest entrepreneurship policy compendium, featuring over 400 case studies from 70 countries. Using these case studies, we publish Country Deep Dives examining the policies underpinning countries’ entrepreneurial success, Policy Deep Dives comparing different countries’ approaches to common policy challenges, and Atlas Spotlights highlighting the best examples of policies under a broad theme. Recent highlights:
- Policy deep dives: Employee share schemes | Startup visas | Youth entrepreneurship | Supporting ethnic minority entrepreneurs
- Country deep dives: South Africa | France | The Netherlands | Australia | Spain
- Atlas spotlights: Finance
To suggest content for inclusion in future editions of 'The Startup State', please email matt@genglobal.org.
Get updates delivered directly to your inbox
Subscribe by selecting 'The Startup State' under communications permission in the form below.