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.
Introducing CoCreate Pitch
The Global Entrepreneurship Network and Alibaba.com have joined forces to open applications for CoCreate Pitch, the world's leading product-driven startup competition. Bold entrepreneurs are invited to share their vision, connect with top global manufacturers and investors, and compete for a share of $1 million in prizes.
Finalists will pitch live at flagship events in Las Vegas, USA and London, UK. Two grand champions, one from each CoCreate event, will each receive a financial award valued at $200,000 (50% cash, 50% Alibaba.com sourcing credits). 20 winners will be awarded up to $40,000 each under the same terms.
Bring bold ideas to life. It's free to apply, and every participant unlocks complimentary access to Alibaba.com's AI-powered sourcing tools and supplier network, enabling rapid prototyping and cost-efficient production. Applications are open to entrepreneurs worldwide.
Learn more | Apply now | View the digital media toolkit and create co-branded promotional graphics
News
- Germany has announced winners of the ‘EXIST Startup Factories’ competition. As part of the federal startup strategy, ten ‘Startup Factories’ spread across Germany will receive up to €10m ($11.6m) in matching funds to scale highly integrated, science-driven startup ecosystems over the next five years (Silicon Canals)
- India has committed a further 10,000 crore ($1.16bn) under the Fund of Funds initiative to boost deep-tech startups. This matches the 10,000 crore announced in the previous budget (Entrepreneur)
- Kenya has announced a Sh 5bn ($38.6m) youth startup fund that will deliver entrepreneurship training to over 800,000 young people and equip 100,000 with Sh 50,000 ($387) seed capital to launch businesses (Kenya News)
- The United Kingdom has announced a £500m ($675m) package to support diverse and emerging fund managers and make it easier for new entrants, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to break into venture capital (British Business Bank)
Research and publications
- Making sense of economic ecosystems
This PWC report shows the value of entrepreneurial, knowledge, innovation, and business ecosystems and suggests that economic ecosystems constitute a strategic framework for enhancing innovation and long-term productivity growth. - Generative artificial intelligence in entrepreneurship education enhances entrepreneurial intention through self-efficacy and university support
This Scientific Reports paper by Yingying Xie (Zhejiang Wanli University) and Shaofeng Wang (Fuzhou University of International Studies and Trade) investigates how generative AI-supported entrepreneurship education influences students’ entrepreneurial intentions.
Comment and analysis
- We’re leaving Delaware, and we think you should consider leaving too (Jai Ramaswamy, Andy Hill, and Kevin McKinley, Andreessen Horowitz)
- Canada doesn’t have an innovation system: It has 134 programs (Lawrence Zhang, head of policy, Centre for Canadian Innovation and Competitiveness, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation)
- Startups are not small businesses: A state startup policy blueprint for unlocking capital (Paul O’Brien, author, Startup Economist)
- Distracted nation: As Israel focuses on wars, its neighbors are gaining in the AI race (Shoshanna Solomon, contributor, The Times of Israel)
- How economic development can be accomplished through South-South and triangular cooperation (Rania Al-Mashat, minister of planning, economic development and international cooperation, Egypt)
- Venture capital still struggles to grasp Africa’s unique challenges (Harry Clynch, finance reporter, African Business)
- Blind to disruption - The CEOs who missed the future (Steve Blank, entrepreneur, author, and academic)
Features
- Inside India’s scramble for AI independence (MIT Technology Review)
- Ethiopia’s startup act raises hopes for nascent tech ecosystem (FDI Intelligence)
- Kazakhstan’s digital revolution: From e-government to AI superpower (The Astana Times)
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
Get updates delivered directly to your inbox
Subscribe by selecting 'The Startup State' under communications permission in the form below.
The opinions expressed in the articles above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Global Entrepreneurship Network.