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.
In memorium
- The GEN team is deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Gilles Lewat, Managing Director of GEN Cameroon. Memorial post
News
- Rwanda has secured $17.5m from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish the Rwanda AI Scaling Hub. The hub is designed to drive innovation across various sectors and support the development of startups and AI applications solving real-world problems (Technext)
- Canada has committed $134m (USD) to renew the Black Entrepreneurship Program. The five-year extension will expand access to loans, mentorship, and data through the National Ecosystem Fund, the Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund, and the Black Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (Betakit)
- The United Kingdom has announced an AI Growth Lab, a cross-economy sandbox to oversee the deployment of AI-enabled products and services that current regulation hinders. The government has opened a call for evidence to help inform the development of the policy (UK Government)
- South Korea has unveiled a five-year plan to scale women-led firms. The roadmap will support women across the entire lifecycle from startup to growth and global expansion (ChosunBiz)
- Startups in France have, for the first time in two years, cut more jobs than they have created. September's figures make a turning point amid an increasingly tense economic and political climate (Maddyness - in French)
Research and publications
- Innovation ecosystems: A toolkit of principles and best practice
This World Economic Forum report presents a toolkit to help policymakers design innovation districts that deliver both economic returns and meaningful benefits for communities. It distils best practice and tangible lessons from 10 inspiring innovation districts drawn from every continent. - Unlocking the economic potential of female entrepreneurship
This UK House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee report calls upon the government to launch a 'Female Enterprise Investment Scheme', which would sit alongside existing tax reliefs but with higher incentives, to drive funding into female-led businesses.
Comment and analysis
- Inside Korea's 'death valley': Why government funding isn't enough for long-term survival (Richard Park, KoreaTechDesk)
- Americans are starting more high-growth businesses than ever before (again) (Christopher Wink, CEO, Technical.ly)
- Build ventures and invest: Why Germany's approach to corporate venture capital is evolving (Kim Moore, editor, Global University Venturing)
- The new 'exit', how policy choices led us here, and what it means for startups (Nathan Lindfors, Policy Director, Engine)
- Where have all the Canadian startups gone? (Mark McQueen, founder, Wellington Growth Partners)
- African venture capital: A cautious comeback in 2025 (African Business)
- Competition for growth: A perspective from the chair of the CMA (Doug Gurr, chair, UK Competition and Markets Authority)
- Scaling EU startups face a regulation maze but change may be coming (Trevor Clawson, contributor, Forbes)
- A cycle of boom and bust: What's deepening Bangladesh's startup winter (Nasif Tanjim, contributor, The Business Standard)
Features
- Morocco's startup cap tables get a deepening pan-African makeover (Launch Base Africa)
- The origin of Huawei: When desperation becomes strategy (FutureStartup)
- MENA's innovation map expands as Syria debuts, Palestine rises at GITEX 2025 (Wamda)
- The world needs more spaceports. Oman wants to help (Rest of World)
- From pacifism to innovation: Japan's tech startups awaken defense industry (BusinessMirror)
GEN community new
- Global Entrepreneurship Week is almost here! This year's theme is "Together We Build" - shining a spotlight on the collective power of community, collaboration, and shared ambition. Explore the ideas bank | Promotional toolkit | Add your event to the GEW calendar
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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.