America’s long-held singular dominance of startup and venture capital activity is being challenged by the rapid ascent of cities in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. While the United States remains the clear global leader, the rest of the world is gaining ground at an accelerating rate.

2. Introduction

The United States is the birthplace of modern, high-tech startups, and the funding model that helps support them. What we think of today as venture capital originated in Boston in the mid-1940s, and later came of age alongside Silicon Valley’s young high-tech companies in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

For decades, venture capital was an almost exclusively American phenomenon—as late as the mid-1990s, nearly all global venture capital investments went to U.S. companies. However, things have changed significantly in recent years, as the geography of startup activity and venture capital investment is undergoing a rapid and profound period of globalization. Today, U.S. companies capture just over half of venture capital investments worldwide.

To assess the changing global map of startups and venture capital investment, we analyzed more than 100,000 venture deals in the PitchBook database. We aggregated these venture deals into more than 300 metropolitan areas spanning 60 countries. Our analysis covers the years 2005 and 2017, which includes the period before the economic crisis, the Great Recession, and the subsequent recovery.

3. Main Findings

The Global Expansion of Startup Activity

Since 2009, the world has seen a massive expansion of startup and venture capital activity. As many nations pulled themselves out of a deep global recession, a new era of technological innovation came into force. Global venture capital investment surged from $52 billion in 2010 to $171 billion in 2017—an increase of more than 200 percent. Venture deals grew from around 8,600 deals in 2010 to more than 14,800 in 2017, for an increase of nearly 75 percent.

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The New Global Players and the Relative Decline of the U.S.

While the U.S. continues to generate the largest amount of startup and venture capital activity, its share of the global total has fallen significantly, from more than 95 percent in the mid-1990s to more than two-thirds in 2012 to a little more than half today.

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Startup Globalization Is Spiky

The globalization of startup cities and venture capital is geographically uneven. Just 24 cities account for three-quarters of global venture capital investment, despite housing just four percent of the world’s population. The top six cities alone attract more than half of all global venture capital investment, despite housing just one percent of the global population—these include San Francisco, Beijing, New York, San Jose, Boston, and Shanghai.

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The New Global Startup Cities

The recent expansion of global venture capital investments has been driven by a relatively small number of places—just four cities accounted for half of the global increase in venture capital investment in the last half-decade, and the top thirteen were responsible for three-quarters. Although the San Francisco Bay Area, which spans the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas, remains the world’s dominant location for startup activity, a growing list of global cities are rapidly gaining ground—many of them outside the United States.

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4. Data

5. Conclusion

Overall, our findings identify a substantial globalization of startup activity and venture capital. America’s once-singular dominance is now being challenged by the rapid ascent of potent startup cities in Europe, China, India, and elsewhere. While the U.S. remains the clear global leader, the notion that successful startups must launch and scale in Silicon Valley or another leading American city no longer holds true. Increasingly, the world’s high-tech entrepreneurs are able to stay in their home city or nation and raise venture capital—a pattern that may accelerate if the U.S. government fails to create an entrepreneur visa or attempts to limit the immigration of highly-skilled individuals.

Our analysis identifies four tiers of 62 Established Global Startup Hubs that account for nearly three-quarters of total venture deals globally and almost 90 percent of venture capital investments worldwide, while housing just seven percent of the global population. American cities comprise fewer than half of these hubs, while cities in Asia and Europe account for about another quarter each.

The phrase “the rise of the rest” is commonly used in the United States to refer to the emergence of startup hubs outside of established leaders like Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, and Boston. While our analysis confirms this phenomenon in the United States, the broader reality is that the rise of the rest is occurring to a much larger degree outside. Indeed, the real rise of the rest is global.

6. Authors

Richard Florida is University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management, Distinguished Fellow at NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, and co-founder and editor-at-large of The Atlantic’s CityLab. He is the author of The Rise of the Creative Class and most recently of The New Urban Crisis.

Ian Hathaway is Research Director at the Center for American Entrepreneurship and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

7. Appendix

Top 50 Cities for Venture Capital Deals

Rank	Geography	Deals (2015-2017)	Share of Global Total	Cumulative Share of Global Total
1	San Francisco, USA	4,900	9.7%	9.7%
2	New York, USA	3,287	6.5%	16.1%
3	London, UK	2,557	5.0%	21.2%
4	San Jose, USA	1,931	3.8%	25.0%
5	Boston, USA	1,870	3.7%	28.7%
6	Los Angeles, USA	1,864	3.7%	32.4%
7	Seattle, USA	927	1.8%	34.2%
8	Delhi, India	851	1.7%	35.9%
9	Paris, France	822	1.6%	37.5%
10	Bangalore, India	792	1.6%	39.1%
11	Beijing, China	781	1.5%	40.6%
12	Chicago, USA	721	1.4%	42.0%
13	Austin, USA	714	1.4%	43.4%
14	San Diego, USA	699	1.4%	44.8%
15	Tel Aviv, Israel	665	1.3%	46.1%
16	Washington, USA	660	1.3%	47.4%
17	Berlin, Germany	629	1.2%	48.7%
18	Philadelphia, USA	538	1.1%	49.7%
19	Mumbai, India	516	1.0%	50.7%
20	Toronto, Canada	482	1.0%	51.7%
21	Denver, USA	475	0.9%	52.6%
22	Shanghai, China	472	0.9%	53.6%
23	Stockholm, Sweden	460	0.9%	54.5%
24	Singapore, Singapore	458	0.9%	55.4%
25	Dallas, USA	394	0.8%	56.1%
26	Atlanta, USA	393	0.8%	56.9%
27	Tokyo, Japan	381	0.8%	57.7%
28	Miami, USA	354	0.7%	58.4%
29	Houston, USA	300	0.6%	59.0%
30	Helsinki, Finland	299	0.6%	59.5%
31	Moscow, Russia	294	0.6%	60.1%
32	Sydney, Australia	287	0.6%	60.7%
33	Barcelona, Spain	286	0.6%	61.3%
34	Boulder, USA	284	0.6%	61.8%
35	Vancouver, Canada	282	0.6%	62.4%
36	Minneapolis, USA	279	0.6%	62.9%
37	Dublin, Ireland	274	0.5%	63.5%
38	Phoenix, USA	268	0.5%	64.0%
39	Portland (OR), USA	262	0.5%	64.5%
40	Seoul, South Korea	244	0.5%	65.0%
41	Copenhagen, Denmark	235	0.5%	65.5%
42	Baltimore, USA	229	0.5%	65.9%
43	Pittsburgh, USA	229	0.5%	66.4%
44	Munich, Germany	215	0.4%	66.8%
45	Amsterdam, Netherlands	212	0.4%	67.2%
46	Nashville, USA	200	0.4%	67.6%
47	Montreal, Canada	192	0.4%	68.0%
48	Cambridge, UK	181	0.4%	68.3%
49	Salt Lake City, USA	178	0.4%	68.7%
50	Raleigh, USA	166	0.3%	69.0%

Top 50 Cities by Growth in Venture Capital Deals

Rank	Geography	Deals (2010-12)	Deals (2015-17)	% Change
1	Bangkok, Thailand	9	65	622%
2	Ahmedabad, India	7	49	600%
3	Jakarta, Indonesia	24	161	571%
4	Delhi, India	168	851	407%
5	Bangalore, India	195	792	306%
6	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	8	32	300%
7	Mumbai, India	133	516	288%
8	Calcutta, India	8	31	288%
9	Dubai, UAE	23	86	274%
10	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	28	103	268%
11	Pune, India	26	91	250%
12	Hangzhou, China	38	132	247%
13	Mexico City, Mexico	29	92	217%
14	Bozeman, USA	7	22	214%
15	Milan, Italy	41	127	210%
16	Des Moines, USA	11	34	209%
17	Manila, Philippines	14	43	207%
18	Sofia, Bulgaria	7	21	200%
19	Basel, Switzerland	9	27	200%
20	Lagos, Nigeria	13	39	200%
21	Johannesburg, South Africa	9	26	189%
22	Stockholm, Sweden	163	460	182%
23	Lille, France	19	52	174%
24	Sydney, Australia	106	287	171%
25	Nanjing, China	17	45	165%
26	Lisbon, Portugal	11	29	164%
27	Singapore, Singapore	174	458	163%
28	Nairobi, Kenya	21	55	162%
29	Rome, Italy	21	55	162%
30	Hyderabad, India	40	104	160%
31	Brisbane, Australia	20	51	155%
32	East Kent, UK	6	15	150%
33	Riga, Latvia	16	40	150%
34	The Hague, Netherlands	18	45	150%
35	Beirut, Lebanon	11	27	145%
36	Porto, Portugal	9	22	144%
37	Rotterdam, Netherlands	12	29	142%
38	Lincoln, USA	12	29	142%
39	London, UK	1,061	2,557	141%
40	Chennai, India	42	101	140%
41	Santa Cruz, USA	20	48	140%
42	Bratislava, Slovakia	8	19	138%
43	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	57	134	135%
44	Krakow, Poland	12	28	133%
45	Antwerp, Belgium	12	28	133%
46	Cape Town, South Africa	31	72	132%
47	Melbourne, Australia	65	150	131%
48	Helsinki, Finland	130	299	130%
49	Utrecht, Netherlands	20	46	130%
50	Little Rock, USA	11	25	127%

Top 50 Cities for Contribution to Global Venture Capital Deal Growth

Rank	Geography	Change in Deals (2010-12 to 2015-17)	Contribution to Global Change in Deals	Cumulative Share of Global Total
1	San Francisco, USA	1,511	8.3%	8.3%
2	London, UK	1,496	8.2%	16.5%
3	New York, USA	1,172	6.4%	23.0%
4	Delhi, India	683	3.8%	26.8%
5	Los Angeles, USA	648	3.6%	30.3%
6	Bangalore, India	597	3.3%	33.6%
7	Mumbai, India	383	2.1%	35.7%
8	Beijing, China	366	2.0%	37.7%
9	Boston, USA	340	1.9%	39.6%
10	Berlin, Germany	303	1.7%	41.3%
11	Stockholm, Sweden	297	1.6%	42.9%
12	Tel Aviv, Israel	285	1.6%	44.5%
13	Singapore, Singapore	284	1.6%	46.0%
14	Paris, France	280	1.5%	47.6%
15	Seattle, USA	279	1.5%	49.1%
16	Austin, USA	237	1.3%	50.4%
17	Chicago, USA	230	1.3%	51.7%
18	Shanghai, China	223	1.2%	52.9%
19	Tokyo, Japan	207	1.1%	54.0%
20	San Jose, USA	207	1.1%	55.2%
21	San Diego, USA	201	1.1%	56.3%
22	Toronto, Canada	191	1.1%	57.3%
23	Sydney, Australia	181	1.0%	58.3%
24	Denver, USA	175	1.0%	59.3%
25	Helsinki, Finland	169	0.9%	60.2%
26	Barcelona, Spain	140	0.8%	61.0%
27	Miami, USA	139	0.8%	61.8%
28	Washington, USA	138	0.8%	62.5%
29	Jakarta, Indonesia	137	0.8%	63.3%
30	Houston, USA	130	0.7%	64.0%
31	Philadelphia, USA	126	0.7%	64.7%
32	Seoul, South Korea	119	0.7%	65.3%
33	Dallas, USA	118	0.6%	66.0%
34	Phoenix, USA	115	0.6%	66.6%
35	Amsterdam, Netherlands	111	0.6%	67.2%
36	Copenhagen, Denmark	103	0.6%	67.8%
37	Dublin, Ireland	102	0.6%	68.4%
38	Hangzhou, China	94	0.5%	68.9%
39	Portland (OR), USA	90	0.5%	69.4%
40	Vancouver, Canada	87	0.5%	69.9%
41	Milan, Italy	86	0.5%	70.3%
42	Melbourne, Australia	85	0.5%	70.8%
43	Shenzhen, China	81	0.4%	71.2%
44	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	77	0.4%	71.7%
45	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	75	0.4%	72.1%
46	Munich, Germany	72	0.4%	72.5%
47	Baltimore, USA	72	0.4%	72.9%
48	Boulder, USA	71	0.4%	73.3%
49	Pune, India	65	0.4%	73.6%
50	Durham, USA	65	0.4%	74.0%

Top 50 Global Cities for Venture Capital Investment

Rank	City	Capital Invested ($M) (2015-17)	Share of Global Total	Cumulative Share of Global Total
1	San Francisco, USA	$81,808	16.0%	16.0%
2	Beijing, China	$72,819	14.2%	30.2%
3	New York, USA	$33,763	6.6%	36.8%
4	San Jose, USA	$24,857	4.9%	41.6%
5	Boston, USA	$24,567	4.8%	46.4%
6	Shanghai, China	$23,839	4.7%	51.1%
7	Los Angeles, USA	$17,391	3.4%	54.5%
8	London, UK	$15,650	3.1%	57.5%
9	Hangzhou, China	$11,390	2.2%	59.8%
10	Bangalore, India	$10,568	2.1%	61.8%
11	Delhi, India	$8,749	1.7%	63.5%
12	Berlin, Germany	$7,291	1.4%	65.0%
13	San Diego, USA	$6,030	1.2%	66.1%
14	Seattle, USA	$5,710	1.1%	67.3%
15	Tel Aviv, Israel	$5,280	1.0%	68.3%
16	Chicago, USA	$5,148	1.0%	69.3%
17	Singapore, Singapore	$4,720	0.9%	70.2%
18	Paris, France	$4,578	0.9%	71.1%
19	Washington, USA	$4,359	0.9%	72.0%
20	Shenzhen, China	$4,286	0.8%	72.8%
21	Austin, USA	$3,635	0.7%	73.5%
22	Tokyo, Japan	$3,066	0.6%	74.1%
23	Atlanta, USA	$3,036	0.6%	74.7%
24	Toronto, Canada	$2,986	0.6%	75.3%
25	Philadelphia, USA	$2,985	0.6%	75.9%
26	Seoul, South Korea	$2,848	0.6%	76.4%
27	Jakarta, Indonesia	$2,828	0.6%	77.0%
28	Mumbai, India	$2,757	0.5%	77.5%
29	Stockholm, Sweden	$2,641	0.5%	78.0%
30	Denver, USA	$2,581	0.5%	78.5%
31	Miami, USA	$2,540	0.5%	79.0%
32	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	$2,241	0.4%	79.5%
33	Oxford, UK	$1,806	0.4%	79.8%
34	Sao Paulo, Brazil	$1,804	0.4%	80.2%
35	Montreal, Canada	$1,771	0.3%	80.5%
36	Minneapolis, USA	$1,757	0.3%	80.9%
37	Dubai, UAE	$1,745	0.3%	81.2%
38	Dallas, USA	$1,701	0.3%	81.5%
39	Guangzhou, China	$1,590	0.3%	81.8%
40	Houston, USA	$1,571	0.3%	82.2%
41	Tianjin, China	$1,543	0.3%	82.5%
42	Munich, Germany	$1,506	0.3%	82.7%
43	Dublin, Ireland	$1,388	0.3%	83.0%
44	Cambridge, UK	$1,371	0.3%	83.3%
45	Durham, USA	$1,353	0.3%	83.5%
46	Provo, USA	$1,352	0.3%	83.8%
47	Nanjing, China	$1,297	0.3%	84.1%
48	Baltimore, USA	$1,292	0.3%	84.3%
49	Vancouver, Canada	$1,256	0.2%	84.6%
50	Salt Lake City, USA	$1,242	0.2%	84.8%

Top 50 Cities by Growth in Venture Capital Investment

Rank	Geography	Capital Invested ($M) (2010-12)	Capital Invested ($M) (2015-17)	% Change
1	Bangkok, Thailand	$4	$336	7775%
2	Hangzhou, China	$533	$11,390	2035%
3	Jakarta, Indonesia	$175	$2,828	1513%
4	Sofia, Bulgaria	$4	$45	1076%
5	Dubai, UAE	$149	$1,745	1075%
6	Tianjin, China	$134	$1,543	1049%
7	Nairobi, Kenya	$30	$323	990%
8	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	$69	$738	969%
9	Palma de Mallorca, Spain	$5	$54	927%
10	Manila, Philippines	$9	$95	918%
11	Beijing, China	$7,205	$72,819	911%
12	Wilmington (DE), USA	$6	$55	860%
13	Delhi, India	$932	$8,749	839%
14	Bozeman, USA	$10	$94	832%
15	Shanghai, China	$2,665	$23,839	794%
16	Leeds, UK	$25	$217	777%
17	Prague, Czech Republic	$12	$104	773%
18	Ahmedabad, India	$17	$150	755%
19	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	$45	$382	744%
20	Bratislava, Slovakia	$10	$82	700%
21	Lincoln, USA	$22	$172	676%
22	Bangalore, India	$1,426	$10,568	641%
23	Beirut, Lebanon	$11	$83	641%
24	Iowa City, USA	$13	$95	616%
25	Seoul, South Korea	$401	$2,848	611%
26	Calcutta, India	$23	$159	606%
27	Rotterdam, Netherlands	$14	$92	559%
28	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	$353	$2,241	536%
29	Karlsruhe, Germany	$19	$118	519%
30	Riga, Latvia	$17	$102	512%
31	Basel, Switzerland	$77	$470	506%
32	Singapore, Singapore	$794	$4,720	494%
33	Florianopolis, Brazil	$10	$56	476%
34	Sunderland, UK	$5	$27	455%
35	Bogota, Colombia	$23	$129	451%
36	Auckland, New Zealand	$73	$387	433%
37	Boise, USA	$36	$190	431%
38	Chattanooga, USA	$17	$88	406%
39	Berlin, Germany	$1,458	$7,291	400%
40	Las Vegas, USA	$60	$297	397%
41	Santa Cruz, USA	$79	$393	395%
42	Warsaw, Poland	$90	$439	390%
43	Mumbai, India	$567	$2,757	387%
44	Guangzhou, China	$328	$1,590	384%
45	Lima, Peru	$8	$39	382%
46	Exeter, UK	$8	$36	358%
47	Charlotte, USA	$221	$980	343%
48	Lille, France	$34	$149	337%
49	Nanjing, China	$302	$1,297	330%
50	Lisbon, Portugal	$22	$90	317%

Top 50 Cities for Contribution to Global Venture Capital Investment Growth

Rank	Geography	Change in Capital Invested ($M) (2010-12 to 2015-17)	Contribution to Global Change in Capital Invested	Cumulative Share of Global Total
1	Beijing, China	$65,614	20.5%	20.5%
2	San Francisco, USA	$52,018	16.2%	36.7%
3	New York, USA	$23,613	7.4%	44.0%
4	Shanghai, China	$21,174	6.6%	50.6%
5	Boston, USA	$12,676	4.0%	54.6%
6	London, UK	$11,554	3.6%	58.2%
7	Hangzhou, China	$10,856	3.4%	61.6%
8	Los Angeles, USA	$9,778	3.0%	64.6%
9	Bangalore, India	$9,142	2.8%	67.5%
10	San Jose, USA	$8,950	2.8%	70.3%
11	Delhi, India	$7,817	2.4%	72.7%
12	Berlin, Germany	$5,833	1.8%	74.5%
13	Singapore, Singapore	$3,926	1.2%	75.7%
14	Shenzhen, China	$3,249	1.0%	76.8%
15	Seattle, USA	$2,691	0.8%	77.6%
16	Jakarta, Indonesia	$2,653	0.8%	78.4%
17	Tel Aviv, Israel	$2,501	0.8%	79.2%
18	Seoul, South Korea	$2,447	0.8%	80.0%
19	Paris, France	$2,412	0.8%	80.7%
20	Mumbai, India	$2,190	0.7%	81.4%
21	Tokyo, Japan	$1,949	0.6%	82.0%
22	San Diego, USA	$1,898	0.6%	82.6%
23	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	$1,889	0.6%	83.2%
24	Dubai, UAE	$1,597	0.5%	83.7%
25	Miami, USA	$1,547	0.5%	84.2%
26	Stockholm, Sweden	$1,540	0.5%	84.6%
27	Atlanta, USA	$1,494	0.5%	85.1%
28	Toronto, Canada	$1,487	0.5%	85.6%
29	Denver, USA	$1,414	0.4%	86.0%
30	Tianjin, China	$1,409	0.4%	86.5%
31	Guangzhou, China	$1,262	0.4%	86.8%
32	Philadelphia, USA	$1,201	0.4%	87.2%
33	Chicago, USA	$1,164	0.4%	87.6%
34	Oxford, UK	$1,130	0.4%	87.9%
35	Austin, USA	$1,113	0.3%	88.3%
36	Sao Paulo, Brazil	$1,015	0.3%	88.6%
37	Provo, USA	$1,009	0.3%	88.9%
38	Nanjing, China	$995	0.3%	89.2%
39	Washington, USA	$886	0.3%	89.5%
40	Munich, Germany	$837	0.3%	89.8%
41	Sydney, Australia	$828	0.3%	90.0%
42	Cambridge, UK	$823	0.3%	90.3%
43	Amsterdam, Netherlands	$793	0.2%	90.5%
44	Lausanne, Switzerland	$783	0.2%	90.8%
45	Baltimore, USA	$767	0.2%	91.0%
46	Durham, USA	$759	0.2%	91.2%
47	Charlotte, USA	$758	0.2%	91.5%
48	Dublin, Ireland	$712	0.2%	91.7%
49	Houston, USA	$694	0.2%	91.9%
50	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	$669	0.2%	92.1%

Top 50 Cities for Pre-Venture Capital (Angel + Seed Stage) Deals

Rank	City	Pre-VC Deals (2015-17)	Pre-VC Share of Deals (2015-17)	Change in Rank v Total Deals Rank
1	San Francisco, USA	1,998	41%	0
2	New York, USA	1,634	50%	0
3	London, UK	1,335	52%	0
4	Los Angeles, USA	1,049	56%	2
5	San Jose, USA	676	35%	-1
6	Boston, USA	669	36%	-1
7	Delhi, India	543	64%	1
8	Seattle, USA	539	58%	-1
9	Bangalore, India	436	55%	1
10	Chicago, USA	372	52%	2
11	Austin, USA	368	52%	2
12	San Diego, USA	347	50%	2
13	Washington, USA	333	50%	3
14	Paris, France	301	37%	-5
15	Mumbai, India	294	57%	4
16	Dallas, USA	281	71%	9
17	Denver, USA	274	58%	4
18	Tel Aviv, Israel	262	39%	-3
19	Philadelphia, USA	249	46%	-1
20	Miami, USA	243	69%	8
21	Singapore, Singapore	230	50%	3
22	Toronto, Canada	224	46%	-2
23	Berlin, Germany	217	34%	-6
24	Stockholm, Sweden	193	42%	-1
25	Phoenix, USA	191	71%	13
26	Houston, USA	190	63%	3
27	Atlanta, USA	184	47%	-1
28	Vancouver, Canada	164	58%	7
29	Minneapolis, USA	162	58%	7
30	Moscow, Russia	161	55%	1
31	Sydney, Australia	159	55%	1
32	Boulder, USA	156	55%	2
33	Helsinki, Finland	136	45%	-3
33	Portland (OR), USA	136	52%	6
35	Barcelona, Spain	128	45%	-2
36	Pittsburgh, USA	124	54%	6
37	Dublin, Ireland	122	45%	0
38	Baltimore, USA	120	52%	4
39	Copenhagen, Denmark	112	48%	2
40	Beijing, China	106	14%	-29
41	Raleigh, USA	100	60%	9
42	Amsterdam, Netherlands	96	45%	3
42	Nashville, USA	96	48%	4
42	Salt Lake City, USA	96	54%	7
45	Indianapolis, USA	90	60%	11
45	Melbourne, Australia	90	60%	11
47	Columbus, USA	86	60%	14
47	Las Vegas, USA	86	79%	26
49	Jakarta, Indonesia	82	51%	3
50	Munich, Germany	79	37%	-6

Mega Deals ($500M+) by Global City

Rank	Geography	Mega-Deals (2015-17)	Share of Global Total	Cumulative Share of Global Total
1	Beijing, China	19	24%	24%
2	San Francisco, USA	18	23%	46%
3	Shanghai, China	11	14%	60%
4	Delhi, India	4	5%	65%
5	Bangalore, India	3	4%	69%
6	Hangzhou, China	3	4%	73%
7	New York, USA	3	4%	76%
8	Berlin, Germany	2	3%	79%
9	Jakarta, Indonesia	2	3%	81%
10	Singapore, Singapore	2	3%	84%
11	Tianjin, China	2	3%	86%
12	Boston, USA	1	1%	88%
13	Chicago, USA	1	1%	89%
14	Dubai, UAE	1	1%	90%
15	London, UK	1	1%	91%
16	Los Angeles, USA	1	1%	93%
17	Miami, USA	1	1%	94%
18	San Jose, USA	1	1%	95%
19	Seoul, South Korea	1	1%	96%
20	Shenzhen, China	1	1%	98%
21	Stockholm, Sweden	1	1%	99%

Mega Deal ($500M+) Investment by Global City

Rank	Geography	Mega Deal Capital Invested ($M) (2015-17)	Share of Global Total	Cumulative Share of Global Total
1	Beijing, China	$46,592	43%	43%
2	San Francisco, USA	$20,083	18%	61%
3	Shanghai, China	$9,318	9%	69%
4	Hangzhou, China	$7,000	6%	76%
5	Bangalore, India	$5,200	5%	80%
6	New York, USA	$4,240	4%	84%
7	Delhi, India	$3,155	3%	87%
8	Los Angeles, USA	$1,809	2%	89%
9	Jakarta, Indonesia	$1,650	2%	90%
10	Singapore, Singapore	$1,300	1%	92%
11	Tianjin, China	$1,118	1%	93%
12	Berlin, Germany	$1,063	1%	94%
13	Seoul, South Korea	$1,000	1%	94%
14	San Jose, USA	$880	1%	95%
15	Shenzhen, China	$800	1%	96%
16	Miami, USA	$794	1%	97%
17	Boston, USA	$615	1%	97%
18	Stockholm, Sweden	$526	0%	98%
19	Chicago, USA	$510	0%	98%
20	London, UK	$506	0%	99%
21	Dubai, UAE	$500	0%	99%

Top 50 Cities for Venture Capital Deals Per Capita

Rank	Country	Deals (2015-17)	Deals per 1M residents (2015-17)	Share of Global Deals
1	San Francisco, USA	4,900	1,046	9.7%
2	San Jose, USA	1,931	974	3.8%
3	Boulder, USA	284	879	0.6%
4	Boston, USA	1,870	390	3.7%
5	Austin, USA	714	347	1.4%
6	Durham, USA	160	286	0.3%
7	Cambridge, UK	181	278	0.4%
8	Ann Arbor, USA	92	253	0.2%
9	Seattle, USA	927	244	1.8%
10	Charlottesville, USA	54	235	0.1%
11	Oxford, UK	157	231	0.3%
12	Santa Barbara, USA	102	228	0.2%
13	Provo, USA	136	226	0.3%
14	Madison, USA	146	225	0.3%
15	San Diego, USA	699	210	1.4%
16	Bozeman, USA	22	210	0.0%
17	Stockholm, Sweden	460	206	0.9%
18	Oulu, Finland	48	195	0.1%
19	Helsinki, Finland	299	184	0.6%
20	London, UK	2,557	182	5.0%
21	Galway, Ireland	21	176	0.0%
22	Santa Cruz, USA	48	175	0.1%
23	Tel Aviv, Israel	665	173	1.3%
24	Denver, USA	475	166	0.9%
25	Bend, USA	30	166	0.1%
26	New York, USA	3,287	163	6.5%
27	Burlington (VT), USA	35	161	0.1%
28	Salt Lake City, USA	178	150	0.4%
29	Edinburgh, UK	129	148	0.3%
30	Dublin, Ireland	274	146	0.5%
31	Reykjavik, Iceland	31	145	0.1%
32	Ithaca, USA	15	143	0.0%
33	Los Angeles, USA	1,864	140	3.7%
34	Waterloo, Canada	73	139	0.1%
35	Missoula, USA	15	129	0.0%
36	Halifax, Canada	52	129	0.1%
37	Raleigh, USA	166	127	0.3%
38	Bridgeport, USA	116	123	0.2%
39	Berlin, Germany	629	122	1.2%
40	Umea, Sweden	15	122	0.0%
41	Copenhagen, Denmark	235	118	0.5%
42	Gainesville, USA	33	117	0.1%
43	Urbana-Champaign, USA	28	117	0.1%
44	Vancouver, Canada	282	114	0.6%
45	Trenton, USA	42	113	0.1%
46	Portland (OR), USA	262	108	0.5%
47	Washington, USA	660	108	1.3%
48	Nashville, USA	200	107	0.4%
49	Iowa City, USA	18	107	0.0%
50	Fort Collins, USA	35	103	0.1%

Top 50 Cities for Venture Capital Investment Per Capita

Rank	Geography	Capital Invested ($M) (2015-17)	Capital Invested ($M) per 1M Residents (2015-17)	Share of Global Capital Invested
1	San Francisco, USA	$81,808	$17,458	16.0%
2	San Jose, USA	$24,857	$12,535	4.9%
3	Boston, USA	$24,567	$5,120	4.8%
4	Boulder, USA	$1,187	$3,676	0.2%
5	Beijing, China	$72,819	$3,341	14.2%
6	Oxford, UK	$1,806	$2,656	0.4%
7	Durham, USA	$1,353	$2,415	0.3%
8	Provo, USA	$1,352	$2,246	0.3%
9	Santa Barbara, USA	$958	$2,144	0.2%
10	Cambridge, UK	$1,371	$2,110	0.3%
11	San Diego, USA	$6,030	$1,816	1.2%
12	Austin, USA	$3,635	$1,766	0.7%
13	New York, USA	$33,763	$1,674	6.6%
14	Ann Arbor, USA	$566	$1,555	0.1%
15	Oulu, Finland	$371	$1,508	0.1%
16	Seattle, USA	$5,710	$1,503	1.1%
17	Santa Cruz, USA	$393	$1,428	0.1%
18	Berlin, Germany	$7,291	$1,418	1.4%
19	Tel Aviv, Israel	$5,280	$1,370	1.0%
20	Lausanne, Switzerland	$1,035	$1,337	0.2%
21	Los Angeles, USA	$17,391	$1,305	3.4%
22	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	$738	$1,281	0.1%
23	Galway, Ireland	$152	$1,277	0.0%
24	Hangzhou, China	$11,390	$1,253	2.2%
25	Stockholm, Sweden	$2,641	$1,183	0.5%
26	Waterloo, Canada	$605	$1,155	0.1%
27	London, UK	$15,650	$1,115	3.1%
28	Salt Lake City, USA	$1,242	$1,047	0.2%
29	Bangalore, India	$10,568	$1,022	2.1%
30	Shanghai, China	$23,839	$980	4.7%
31	Trenton, USA	$343	$925	0.1%
32	Denver, USA	$2,581	$904	0.5%
33	Bozeman, USA	$94	$895	0.0%
34	Singapore, Singapore	$4,720	$845	0.9%
35	Charlottesville, USA	$190	$827	0.0%
36	Limerick, Ireland	$152	$781	0.0%
37	Dublin, Ireland	$1,388	$739	0.3%
38	Helsinki, Finland	$1,163	$718	0.2%
39	Washington, USA	$4,359	$710	0.9%
40	Madison, USA	$450	$693	0.1%
41	New Haven, USA	$591	$690	0.1%
42	Basel, Switzerland	$470	$669	0.1%
43	Reykjavik, Iceland	$142	$662	0.0%
44	Portland (ME), USA	$338	$639	0.1%
45	Manchester, USA	$253	$619	0.0%
46	Dubai, UAE	$1,745	$598	0.3%
47	Bridgeport, USA	$538	$569	0.1%
48	Iowa City, USA	$95	$561	0.0%
49	Chicago, USA	$5,148	$541	1.0%
50	Santa Rosa, USA	$270	$536	0.1%

Methodology

To document the world’s leading startup hubs, we used data from PitchBook Data, Inc., which captures the geographic location of companies that received venture capital investment. We grouped the metro-level data into three three-year periods—2005-2007, 2010-2012, and 2015-2017—to reduce noisiness from year to year, especially in smaller geographies. These figures were broken down by country, state or province, city, and postal code for each company’s headquarters. The data was then cleaned for any spellings or identification errors.

Once the raw data was cleaned and tabulated, we grouped these data into broader metropolitan areas based on their country-state-city-postal code combination. While most of these places are metropolitan areas, a few are non-metropolitan areas. Startup activity in the U.S. was mapped to metropolitan or micropolitan areas using Census Bureau data. Startup activity in the European Union was mapped onto metropolitan, intermediate, or rural areas (at the level of NUTS 3) using Eurostat data. The rest of the world’s aggregations were made only by metropolitan area, using a combination of files from national statistical authorities (e.g., Canada, Israel) or international sources (e.g., Brookings Institution, World Bank, Oxford Economics, ESRI, Google Maps). This produced a list of relevant geographic areas for each deal in the PitchBook database (or confirmed blanks where no corresponding area existed). Deals that occurred in another area of a country were grouped into an “other” category.

Next, these data were fed back to PitchBook for the aggregation of deal counts according to our specified geographic areas for each of the three-year periods and across one of four round types: angel and seed-stage, early-stage venture, later-stage venture, and mega deals of more than $500 million. The nearly 100,000 venture deals in the PitchBook database, which cover nine years of collected data that span a period of 17 years, collectively produced more than 5,000 combinations (cells) of deal activity along our aggregations of geography, time period, and round type.

In addition to the number of deals, PitchBook extracted two other measures: the amount of capital invested in these deals (where the amount invested was reported) and the number of deals in which the amount of invested capital was reported. As a result, the amount of capital invested for 17 percent of the nearly 100,000 deals was not reported. Since our aim is to analyze both deals and capital invested (dollars), we conservatively interpolated values for these approximately 17,000 deals. To do this, we first tabulated global average deal sizes for each of the 12 round-period combinations. We then assigned geographic areas into quartiles for global deal volume in each period and round type. Each of the four groups in each period was assigned an adjustment factor of 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, or 70 percent (from the lowest deal activity group to the highest).

For each geographic area with a deal reported, but a missing value for the capital investment, we assume that the deal size is the global average for that period-round, reduced by the relevant adjustment factor. In other words, the places with the fewest deals are assumed to have relatively smaller deal sizes compared to the global average, while the most active places are assumed to have relatively larger deal sizes. In all cases, missing deals are assumed to be smaller in general, as each adjustment factor value is far less than 100 percent (an adjustment factor of 100 percent would indicate an equivalent of the global average). These new adjusted figures have the effect of raising the level of capital invested by 10 percent globally over the three periods compared to capital invested when missing deal size values were not interpolated.

Next, we mapped each geographic area onto its population estimate for the most recent period, 2015-2017. To make this process manageable, we filtered out all but 500 of the most active regions for venture deals in the most recent period. From there, we applied population figures from a variety of sources. For the U.S., Canada, and Israel, figures came directly from national sources. Europe’s figures came primarily from the Eurostat, though there were a few exceptions for smaller areas in Ireland, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, which came directly from national sources. Aside from these, population data for the rest of the world came from Oxford Economics (via the Brookings Institution) or the United Nations.

With a nearly complete dataset in hand, we applied two final filters. The remaining geographic areas needed to satisfy two conditions: (1) a population of at least 100,000 residents in the most recent period (2015-2017), and (2) a minimum of six venture capital deals in the two most recent periods (2010-2012 and 2015-2017), or an average of two deals per year within each of the three-year periods.

This resulted in a final list of 314 geographic areas—primarily metropolitan areas, but also a small number of micropolitan (U.S.), intermediate (EU), and rural areas (EU). These 314 startup hubs cover 92 percent of total venture deals and 96 percent of total venture capital investment in 2015-2017. For each of these 314 hubs, we tabulated figures for venture deals, venture capital invested (adjusted), and a measure that caps deal sizes at $500 million to control for the effect of very large mega deals. Each of these three measures is available by round (pre, early, late, mega) and period.

Our typology of startup hubs is based on the level of venture capital deals, the volume of venture capital investment, and the change in both. We used our capped figures for venture capital investment (which limits all deals to $500 million in size) to reduce the influence of cities that have total activity driven to a very large extent by these massive outliers.

We next benchmarked each metropolitan area against the within-measure maximum (i.e. the leading city received a score of 1 for each category) and created a composite score across all measures for each city. The scores were then assessed to look for statistically meaningful breaks in the data and to discern natural groupings. These were also crosschecked with several iterations of statistical clustering analyses through the k-means method.

Based on this, we identified two main types and seven individual categories of Global Startup Hubs. The first type is comprised of large Established Global Startup Hubs, which span 64 individual metropolitan areas. For this exercise, we combined the San Francisco and San Jose metros into the San Francisco Bay Area and the Raleigh and Durham metros into the Research Triangle, to produce 62 Established Startup Hubs.

The second type is comprised of smaller Emerging Global Startup Hubs. The Global Next are cities within the top 100 for total venture deals and a strong presence (relative activity) and growth of angel and seed-stage investment. Each is among the top 60 for such deals. We simply selected the top 10 from the list, as we did for all Emerging Startup Hubs. For the Little Giants, we took the remaining metros with the highest per capita measures for venture deals and venture capital investment by calculating a composite relative metric across both. For the Global Gazelles, we calculated a composite metric for relative growth rates in venture capital deals and venture capital investment and took the remaining ten cities with the highest scores.