Five emerging cities around the world to launch a startup
America since long has dominated the world of start-ups along with buzzing activities in venture capital. However, now the craze of the start-up has increased and many cities of different continents including Asia, Europe and Africa have created many promising cities that are ideal for starting a start-up.
Even though the Coronavirus impacted the startup scene at the global level, things are still positive for many new businesses. However, four out of every ten start-ups are in the red zone with their capitals drying up.
The pandemic saw investment disruption in many continents but the situation is not as gloomy as it seems. It is because many promising start-ups were born and grew during hard times like this. For instance, during the Great Recession, 50 unicorns came into existence. Similarly, India which was hit hard by the pandemic saw many unicorns in the past two years alone. By choosing a location well, the inclination towards building better start-ups increases and here is a list of emerging cities around the world to launch a start-up in 2021.
Lagos
It is the main financial hub of Nigeria and the largest city by population in Africa. The youth population of the city, who are also educated, provides an excellent choice for any entrepreneur to launch a start-up here. Lagos is promising for any start-up due to its human resource which comprises 20 million people.
Along with that, it has a great network of investors, innovation hubs and corporate stakeholders. When invested and planned right, a start-up can see a high return on investment. In Lagos, particularly fintech start-ups are doing extremely well. The performance of these start-ups has been so commendable that it earned the nickname Silicon Lagoon. Notable start-ups of this region include MainOne, Flutterwave, Paystack and Interswitch.
London
Unsurprisingly, London managed its position as the second best place for a start-up according to Annual Global Startup Ecosystem 2021 for the second consecutive year. According to the report, apart from Silicon Valley, which is the obvious choice for many entrepreneurs, London is the most attractive destination for the entrepreneur.
The same has been proven with numbers as the current value of the startup ecosystem in London is approximately USD 142.7 billion. In 2012, London ranked eighth for providing an appropriate start-up ecosystem and over the years, it has been improving its performance to bear the second spot now.
Bengaluru
Bengaluru situated in India which is like a Silicon Valley of India is also one of the emerging cities for launching a start-up. In addition to Bengaluru, even other surrounding states of Karnataka serve as a cluster of many innovations with more than 400 global research and development centres.
In fact, according to a report by Tracxn, the start-ups which are launched in Bengaluru every year are even more than in San Francisco. The Indian Government is trying to improve the financial situation of the country by investing in lotteries which when won in Lottery Sambad, Teer Result allows one to earn a handsome sum along with launching programs like Make In India to support Indian start-ups.
Beijing
Beijing is an ideal city for launching a start-up in the niche of education, the internet of things, hardware and transportation. Currently, the city holds an excellent record in the parameters of performance, market reach, knowledge and talent. In fact, if the Growth Index of the start-ups is taken into consideration, it tops the list.
After Covid, the number of investments made in China faced a disruption but still, it is staying strong when it comes to launching a business by providing all the required facilities to the entrepreneur.
Tallinn
Tallinn in Estonia is one of the emerging cities for a start-up, possible because the digitization in the city is present at almost the next level. In Estonia, it is possible for one to open a bank account even without visiting a bank. Also, the tax system of the country is friendly for entrepreneurs.
On top of it, it removes a huge burden from the entrepreneur by offering an affordable cost of living. Also as per the OECD index, it is doing a fairly good job in the environment, social connection and education. Also, in Tallinn one can enjoy free public transportation and public Wi-Fi making it one of the best cities to launch a start-up.