The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2022

17 juni 2022

European startups and scale-ups are largely concentrated in the UK, Germany, and France, with nearly two-thirds of the continent’s top 1,000 startups and scale-ups founded in one of these countries. In 2021, both Germany and the Netherlands experienced a year-over-year growth of more than 200%

Startup Genome’s coverage of ecosystems is growing. Our analysis — which expanded from 60 ecosystems in 2018 to 150 in 2019 and to nearly 300 today — has allowed us to rank the top 40 global startup ecosystems as well as 100 emerging startup ecosystems.

We have expanded our list of ecosystems and it now includes regions that have traditionally received less coverage, including Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. We have also expanded our list to talk about the top 100 Emerging Ecosystems. Although these ecosystems are outside the list of highest performing ecosystems, their impact and importance is significant in the global economy.

Key Findings

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.
Seoul entered the global top 10 ecosystems for the first time, up six places from #16 in 2021 and #20 in 2020.
Several Indian ecosystems have risen in the rankings, most notably Delhi, which is 11 places higher than in 2021, entering the top 30 for the first time at #26. Bangalore has moved up one place from last year, to #22.
Overall, China’s ecosystems have declined in the rankings, a reflection of the relative decline in early-stage funding in comparison to other ecosystems.
Helsinki has risen more than 20 places from last year, joining the runners-up category at joint #35.
A record 540 companies achieved unicorn status in 2021, up from 150 in 2020.
In 2021, Brazil saw 237% growth in the dollar amount of Series B+ rounds compared to 2020. The nation’s total exit amount for 2021 was $49 billion, a huge leap from $1 billion in 2020.
Asia experienced a 312% increase in the dollar amount of exits over $50 million from 2020 to 2021.
In 2021, the dollar amount of exits in London grew 413% from 2020. The ecosystem’s Series B+ rounds increased 162% in terms of dollar amount from 2020, and it saw 55% more $50 million+ exits in 2021 versus 2020.