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
- The Global Entrepreneurship Network and Alibaba.com have joined forces to open applications for CoCreate Pitch, the world's leading product-driven startup competition. Learn more | Apply now | View the digital media toolkit and create co-branded promotional graphics
News
- Egypt's central bank has published comprehensive new regulations on governance and internal controls for the country's burgeoning fintech sector (Launch Base Africa)
- Saudi Arabia has launched the second edition of the 'Estrdad' initiative to refund SAR 1.5bn ($400m) of government fees for startups. The initiative covers registration, trademark and license fees, among others, and aims to stimulate business and enhance startups' sustainability (Saudi Press Agency)
- Albania has appointed the world's first AI-made minister. 'Diella', meaning sunshine in Albanian, will be responsible for all public procurement (Politico)
- South Korea has created a vice minister for small businesses within its Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The move reshapes how Korea integrates small enterprises into its startup ecosystem and growth agenda (Korea Tech Desk)
- Kazakhstan has outlined a strategy to double GDP by 2029. As part of the plan, a new banking law will create favorable conditions for fintechs, and a $1bn high-tech investment program will be launched. Alatou city will also become a global hub for innovation and investment (Astana Times)
- Namibia has rolled out a N$400 (US $29m) national youth entrepreneurship fund aimed at tackling youth unemployment. In its initial phase, the fund is expected to support at least 350 youth-owned businesses and create 4,000 jobs (Namibia Economist)
Comment and analysis
- The precautionary empire: Why policymakers fail builders (Collin McCune, head of government affairs, Andreesen Horowitz)
- Beyond the funding funnel: Rethinking women, VC and the data shaping debate (Sinead Fitzgerald, contributor, Startup Daily)
- How hard tech history fuels entrepreneurship (Paul O'Brien, author, Startup Economist)
- Colombia needs technology and digitalization to consolidate peace (Robert Garcia Alonso and Ulf Thoene, Universidad de La Sabana - in Spanish)
- The AI deregulation agenda has helped create an AI bubble and may hasten a crash (Amber Sinha, contributing editor, Tech Policy Press)
- Clara Chappaz in government: Stop or continue? (Maxence Fabrion, journalist, Maddyness - in French)
- Jordan is building scalable startups - without chasing unicorns (Rajae Sahouri, contributor, Atlantic Council)
Features
- How Vietnam's military built one of the hottest tech companies in Southeast Asia (Rest of World)
- Political turmoil engulfs French startups: 'I'm not sure we'll stay' (Sifted - requires free registration)
- Fintech's female factor: How women are reshaping finance in Saudi Arabia and beyond (Inc. Arabia)
- Obituary: Giorgio Armani, Italy's fashion 'king', has died (Business of Fashion)
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.
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.