By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.
PreferencesDenyAccept
Privacy Preference Center
When you visit websites, they may store or retrieve data in your browser. This storage is often necessary for the basic functionality of the website. The storage may be used for marketing, analytics, and personalization of the site, such as storing your preferences. Privacy is important to us, so you have the option of disabling certain types of storage that may not be necessary for the basic functioning of the website. Blocking categories may impact your experience on the website.
Reject all cookiesAllow all cookies
Manage Consent Preferences by Category
Essential
Always Active
These items are required to enable basic website functionality.
Marketing
These items are used to deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests. They may also be used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Advertising networks usually place them with the website operator’s permission.
Personalization
These items allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For example, a website may provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing data about your current location.
Analytics
These items help the website operator understand how its website performs, how visitors interact with the site, and whether there may be technical issues. This storage type usually doesn’t collect information that identifies a visitor.
Save preferences
Program
Speakers
Speeddates
Partners
About
Updates
Tickets

October 1, 2025

Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2025

The GSER 2025, now in its 13th year, provides a comprehensive analysis of global startup ecosystems, drawing insights from 5 million startups across 350+ ecosystems and over a decade of research.

The report highlights the major trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the global innovation landscape.

Global Trends

  • Ecosystem Value Decline: Global startup ecosystem value has dropped 31% since the last report due to fewer and smaller exits and post-COVID valuation corrections. However, since 2019, ecosystem value has still grown at a 11% annual rate, far outpacing the broader economy.

  • Regional Shifts: Asia and Africa are on the rise, while Europe and North America have seen declines.

    • Asia’s ecosystems, especially Beijing, Shenzhen, and Bengaluru, show strong gains.

    • Europe saw a 24% drop, though Paris climbed in global rankings.

    • Latin America’s ecosystem value fell the most, down 45%.

  • AI Dominance: AI is now the fastest-growing sector, attracting 40% of all VC funding (up from 26% in 2021). AI startups receive faster, larger rounds and are driving the next wave of ecosystem growth.

  • Other Sector Movements:
    • Life Sciences (+17%) and Cybersecurity (+4%) saw funding growth.

    • Cleantech (-40%) and Edtech (-57%) saw major declines.

    • Blockchain funding growth is flat year-over-year but still growing over a five-year horizon.

  • Funding Shifts:
    • Early-stage funding has contracted sharply since its 2021 peak.

    • Late-stage funding and exits are slowly recovering, though large exits (> $50M) remain down 31% globally compared to the last cycle.

Top Startup Ecosystems (2025 Ranking Highlights)

  1. Silicon Valley – Retains global dominance.

  2. New York City – Holds #2.

  3. London – Slips to #3 for the first time since 2019.

  4. Tel Aviv – Climbs to #4, continuing Israel’s upward trajectory.

  5. Boston (tied) and Beijing (tied) – Strong gains, driven by Life Sciences (Boston) and AI (Beijing).

Notable movers:

  • Hong Kong jumped from the Emerging list to #27 globally.

  • Philadelphia surged 12 spots to #13.

  • All major Chinese ecosystems (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guangzhou) improved rankings.

Policy and Ecosystem Insights

  • Policy-driven ecosystems like Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, and Melbourne are outpacing peers, proving the impact of strategic, AI-focused policies.

  • A global AI policy coalition has been launched to redirect AI budgets toward entrepreneurial startups (not just infrastructure and corporate R&D) to ensure local job creation and competitiveness.

Startup Genome emphasizes that ecosystems must rapidly transition to AI-native strategies to remain competitive. Bold policy moves, talent development, and founder-centric support will define the ecosystems that lead the next decade.

‍

All updates