Startup – Best Cities for Startup Founders, Investors and Developers

Indeed Silicon Valley’s start-up ecosystem is the most mature and flourishing. But there are many up and coming cities around the world that are forming veins to pump lifeblood into the ecosystem to help entrepreneurs thrive. For example, I recently wrote a series about Melbourne Australia’s buzz. So what are these cities?

Inspired by a series of posts from prolific Venture Capitalist, Mark Suster; Simply Business wanted to see how different cities around the world stacked up versus the Bay Area, to determine which cities offered interesting opportunities for startup founders, investors and developers.

According to Simply Business:

For startups seeking funding

San Francisco and the Bay Area stands out for startups seeking investment, as does New York. Seattle and Singapore boast strong investor to startup ratios and rich talent pools, making them attractive locations for startups. Hong Kong also looks favourable but with proportionally fewer developers, securing talent may prove tougher.

For startups not seeking funding

With the highest ratio of developers to startups and a low cost of living, Bangalore, New Delhi, and Mumbai could be attractive locations for startups if funding isn’t an issue. In the US – Boston, DC, Seattle, Dallas, and Denver all boast impressive talent pools.

For investors

The sheer volume of startups means San Francisco and the Bay Area remains a favourable environment for investors; but the ratio of startups to investors in Los Angeles and London could make those cities even more attractive to investors. Similarly, Toronto, Bangalore, and New Delhi offer a wealth of investment opportunities.

For developers

The big 4 locations for startups (San Francisco and the Bay Area, New York, LA, and London) are by far the best locations for developers. Other cities in Europe(Paris, Berlin, and Moscow), the US (Chicago, Austin, and Las Vegas) and Canada (Toronto) also look like lucrative job markets for talented developers.

If you’re an entrepreneur, investor or a developer looking for a job with a startup, have a play with the scatter plot. Of course there are many considerations to think about when moving to a new city, but this interesting analysis can give you a good starting point.

If you’re someone who is truly passionate about establishing your city as a world class startup city, have a read of Mark Suster’s blog post titled ‘What Makes a Successful Startup Community? Is it Possible to Build One Where you Live?’ based on Brad Feld’s book and ‘A Few Key People Really Can Make a Huge Difference’. As Simply Business’ analysis shows, not everyone has to move to the Bay Area to be a successful tech startup entrepreneur, investor or worker.

Ref: Forbes

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