New startups in the world

Today, the Startup Genome released the first half of its massive 160-page report on the world’s top startup ecosystems. Of the many moving parts of the report, the most noteworthy (and potentially controversial) is it’s so-called Startup Ecosystem Index, which ranks the world’s top 20 startup ecosystems, a la college football.

For those unfamiliar, the ambitious, collaborative R&D project known as “Startup Genome” was created by three young entrepreneurs, Bjoern Herrmann, Max Marmer, and Ertan Dogrultan, who set out to take a comprehensive, data-driven dive into what makes startups successful — or go the way of the Dodo.

Out of its initial research came Startup Compass: A benchmarking tool that leverages the research project’s data to enable startups and their founders to evaluate their progress compared to others in their space and help them make more informed product and business decisions by “utilizing a data-driven feedback loop, ” according to its mission statement.

Today, nearly two years after the project began, the team has compiled data on more than 50, 000 startups around the world through Startup Compass and more than 50 in-depth, qualitative interviews conducted with entrepreneurs and investors. The results are a substantial update from the mini report the founders released back in April, which gave a preliminary look into the world’s top startup ecosystems, beginning with what it found to be the three most active hubs: Silicon Valley, New York City and London.

The comparative analysis, produced in collaboration with affiliates from UC Berkeley, Stanford and Telefónica Digital, covers a host of topics, including how the landscape of startup ecosystems has begun to extend beyond Silicon Valley to become somewhat of a global phenomenon. The report compiled a global ranking of startup ecosystems based on a 50-variable, 8-component index, which includes Startup Output, Funding, Company Performance, Talent, Support Infrastructure, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Trendsetting Tendencies and Ecosystem Differentiation.

Unsurprisingly, atop the rankings sits Silicon Valley, which remains the mecca of entrepreneurship and was used as a baseline from which to compare the rest of the list. Coming in second is Tel Aviv, followed by Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City and Boston, before crossing the Atlantic to London — which ranked as the largest ecosystem in Europe. While five of the top startup ecosystems in the world are in the U.S., the rest of the world is catching up.