Startup Genome compares annually startup ecosystems and their strengths. The report was published today at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. It states that Helsinki is an example for the whole world with its’ local connectedness. In addition, Helsinki was well presented as the gaming hub, but also AI and health were acknowledged as Helsinki’s strengths.
Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) launched today the Global Startup Ecosystems Report in Istanbul. This report finds out different factors, what it takes to build dynamic startup ecosystems. The report compares 45 cities. This year it takes a close look too at key sub-sectors such as Robotics, A.I., Blockchain, Life Sciences and Cybersecurity and Gaming. Helsinki is already known for its’ game industry, but this year also health and artificial intelligence were noted as Helsinki’s strongholds in the report.
“Helsinki has one of the leading startup ecosystems in the fields of in the information and communications technology, gaming and cleantech. Recently we have witnessed rising stars also in health. We have excellent co-operation between startups, cities, corporations and research institutes, which makes Helsinki very strong in order to solve great global challenges”, the CEO of Helsinki Business Hub Marja-Liisa Niinikoski comments.
Helsinki shows the way with the local connectedness
In the addition to the size and global connectedness, the report names local connectedness as one of the success factors. Helsinki is the best ecosystem for local connectedness in the world. Behind are ecosystems such as Silicon Valley and London. The report states that sense of community correlates highly with indicators of overall ecosystem performance such as startup output, exits, startup valuations, exits, unicorns, and ecosystem value. A higher level of local relationships is also positively correlated with ecosystem performance.
“As we all know, we don’t have a huge market in Finland. That is why our startups are targeting straight to the global market. When the competition is high, we need to work together”, Marja-Liisa Niinikoski says.
The report is comparing Helsinki to Jerusalem. They both are small, strong startup ecosystems, with similar levels of sense of community in the analysis. The Greater Helsinki region, however, has a much higher level of local relationships. The report has found out that when founders help other founders, overall ecosystem performance is stronger.
The world is changing
The startup world is changing fast. The big and mature ecosystems are no longer the only ones that can rise to the top globally.
“We’ve now entered the Third Wave of innovation – where our global startup community is disrupting industries by combining technology with deep industry expertise. This is creating a potentially game-changing opportunity for smaller, less mature startup ecosystems that can now build out a competitive advantage at a global level by focusing on their DNA and legacy strengths,” shares Startup Genome CEO and co-founder JF Gauthier.
