The Startup State: Issue #85

A weekly bulletin from the GEN Policy and GEN Research team highlighting key entrepreneurship news, reports, commentary, and features from around the world. 
Matt
Smith

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. 

GEN community news

  • Over 3,500 entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem builders from 142 countries convened in Indianapolis on June 2-5 for GEN's flagship event,  Global Entrepreneurship Congress. Key recaps / announcements:
    • The OECD launched a new entrepreneurial ecosystem diagnostic report (GEN)
    • GEC+Africa will return to Cape Town in September 2026 (GEN)
    • GEN and Exponeur launched the Exponeur Academy - a global entrepreneurship training program empowering the next generation of new innovation (GEN)
    • GEN and Alibaba.com launched CoCreate Pitch, a global pitch competition that will deliver substantial capital, metorship, and market access to the most promising product-based startups (GEN)
    • The GEN Compass Awards celebrated the achievements of 17 individuals and organizations. The awards recognize excellence in entrepreneurship support, policymaking, investor support programs, and research, and honor those who are making a difference in helping entrepreneurs start and scale around the world (GEN)
    • Startup Community trailblazer Brad Feld took to the main stage to launch his latest book, 'Give First: The Power of Mentorship' (GEN)
    • Read the summary of the Startup Nations Ministerial (GEN)
    • Read the summary of the GEN Research Summit (GEN)
    • Read GEN President Jonathan Ortmans' post-GEC thank you message (GEN)
  • The GEN team offers its congratulations and best wishes to Amitabh Kant, who has announced he is stepping down as India's G20 Sherpa after 45 years of public service. As Secretary of the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion, Kant spearheaded Startup India, Ease of Doing Business, and Make in India. As CEO of NITI Aayog, the Indian Government's policy think tank, Kant was instrumental in working with GEN and the U.S. Government to host the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad (Storyboard 18)

News

  • The G7 published a 'Leaders' Statement of AI for Prosperity', outlining a coordinated commitment to harness human-centred, trustworthy AI to boost economic growth, empower SMEs, modernize public services, and support energy innovation while addressing digital divides and workforce readiness (Canada)
  • Uganda has unveiled a sweeping financial strategy aimed at raising broader tax revenue while easing the tax burden on small businesses and startups. The strategy includes a 'startup income tax holiday' that offers citizen-owned startups a three-year income tax holiday, and a capital gains tax exemption for transferring personal business assets into companies to support business formalization (NilePost)
  • The United Kingdom has appointed the first-ever entrepreneurship advisor to the Treasury. Serial entrepreneur Alex Depledge has been appointed to advise the chancellor in the run-up to the Autumn Budget, focusing on addressing the key barriers faced by businesses seeking to startup and scale up in the UK. The government also appointed Emma Jones, co-founder of Startup Britain, as its new small business commissioner, responsible for tackling late payments to SMEs (gov.uk and gov.uk)
  • The United Arab Emirates has launched UAE Future 50, an initiative listing 50 promising startups launched by Emirati entrepreneurs acrorss 15 future-focused sectors that boost the diversification and resilience of the national economy (Economy Middle East)
  • Uruguay has launched Uruguay Innovates, a new initiative that seeks to improve research, attract investment, and promote entrepreneurship in the country. President Orsi highlighted the importance of creating a Uruguay "that looks at development with more optimism" (Contxto)
  • South Africa has taken a major step towards a national policy for entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial readiness and support systems. (Department for Basic Education)
  • China is to ease IPO rules to allow listings of unprofitable startups on its technology-focused exchanges (
  • )

Comment and analysis

Features

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: 

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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.