SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — June 14, 2022 — Startup Genome, the world-leading innovation policy advisory and research firm, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) today launched the 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER). In its 10th year, the GSER was introduced by JF Gauthier, Founder and CEO of Startup Genome. The report is the world’s most comprehensive, data-driven research on startups with 280+ entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems, rankings of the leading 140 ecosystems, and 3 million startups analyzed.
Key highlights from the #GSER2022 include:
- Silicon Valley is the #1 Global Startup Ecosystem, followed by New York City and London tied at #2, Boston at #4. North America continues to dominate the Global Rankings, with 47% of the top 30 ecosystems in this region.
- Major movement of U.S. cities in the Global rankings include - Detroit moved up 13 places to #40, Los Angeles holds its place at #6 but shows a significant increase in Connectedness this year, San Diego moved up eight places from last year’s ranking, to #13, Denver-Boulder moved up three places from 2021, taking #24. The Colorado ecosystem is increasing in both value and count in early-stage funding, and has shown significant growth in Connectedness. Miami moved up nine places in ranking since last year, to #33. The number of $50 million+ exits here increased from four in the 2021 GSER period to 11 this year. It also recorded two $1 billion+ exits.
- Silicon Valley’s share dollar amount in early-stage investment has declined from 25% in 2012 to 13% in 2021. As early-stage funding is a leading indicator of the future of tech, this trend suggests that the growth of tech in the rest of the world will continue to be faster than in Silicon Valley.
- Dry powder of US investors has gone up in 2021 by an average of 101% from $252m to $507m. The total dry powder in dollars for active investors is up by 20% from 2020 to 2021.
- Overall, China’s ecosystems have declined in the rankings, a reflection of the relative decline in early-stage funding in comparison to other ecosystems. In 2021, China saw growth in large exits decline, particularly in early-stage funding. Large funding rounds mostly focused on the later stages. As for foreign investments, GSER numbers show that most Chinese ecosystems have a significantly lower ratio of non-local to local investors than do their counterparts in India, for example. The performance of Chinese startup hubs is declining for the first time since GSER has tracked them. Seven of the 13 cities studied fell in our rankings: two (Wuxi and Xiaman) are down 21 positions.
- The growth of LSF (Later Stage Funding) is 137% from 2020 to 2021 in amount and 39% in the number of rounds.There has been a 43% growth in the amount of ESF (Early Stage Funding), showing the LSF had a faster growth.
- Since 2012, global average Series A rounds have tripled to more than $18 million.
- Since the pandemic, tech companies grew 2.3 times more than their non-tech counterparts.
- Join us in celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the first, and still the only data-driven primary research on startup and ecosystem success factors. This foundation that the global community powered us is what allows us today to give back by advising governments and agencies so their policies are more effective for entrepreneurs and create more jobs and impact for our societies in every corner of the world," said JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO of Startup Genome.
The #GSER2022 ranks startup ecosystems on seven Success Factors, including performance and talent. The same five ecosystems remain at the top of the ranking as in 2020 and 2021, but Beijing has dropped one place, with Boston taking its former place at #4. Silicon Valley is #1, followed by New York City and London tied at #2, Boston at #4, and Beijing at #5.
"This research reveals what it takes for cities to compete in the race to the top as destinations for startup talent and investment. The GSER is both a guide to innovation performance and a cue to leaders to grow their local innovation ecosystems with evidence-based strategies, not gut," said Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network.
Since 2012, this research effort has provided rich insights and guidance to public and private leaders on how to cultivate thriving startup ecosystems and support local startups — the #1 engine of job creation and economic growth. Find out how the leading 140 entrepreneurial ecosystems rank worldwide and view the Report details here.