Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, has given way to South Africa’s Cape Town as the top startup ecosystem in Africa, according to the latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report released by Startup Genome, in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network. According to the report, African ecosystems are now worth $6.6 billion in total. Cape Town, Lagos, Johannesburg, Nairobi, and Accra account for $6 billion of that total.
“Entrepreneurs, policymakers, and community leaders in Africa have been working hard to build inclusive innovation ecosystems that are engines of economic growth and job creation for all,” said JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO of Startup Genome. “The Global Startup Ecosystem Report is the foundation of knowledge where we, as a global network, come together to identify what policies actually produce economic impact and in what context.”
With data from over 3 million companies across 280 ecosystems, the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (#GSER2021) claims it is the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read research on startups. The report lists the top 30 worldwide ecosystems and the top 10 runner-up ecosystems, as well as a top 100 list of emerging ecosystems.
Read also:Revolutionalising Legal Practice With Technology
For the 2021 rankings, Global Startup Ecosystem Report rated ecosystems across seven performance indexes. They are: Performance; Funding; Market Reach; Talent & Experience; Connectedness; Knowledge
Here Is What You Need To Know
- According to the report, the average amount of early-stage funding in African startup ecosystems during the GSER period was $46.5 million, more than double the amount seen the previous year.
- Fintech dominates early-stage investment in Africa, according to the research, with over $206 million spent in the Sub-Sector between January 2018 and June 2020.
- It claims that the overall exit value in Africa was over $1.1 billion, with Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban topping the list.
- The research also lists Kampala, Abuja, Durban, and Kigali as Africa’s top regional challengers in that order.
Lagos Comes Back Top In Africa On The Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems Ranking
Despite falling behind Cape Town in terms of valuation, Lagos still ranks first in Africa among the Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems worldwide. Last year it was third in Africa, behind Cairo and Cape Town.
Startup Genome assesses over 275 ecosystems across over 100 countries to rank the top 30 globally, runners-up, and since 2020, the top Emerging Ecosystems.
Read also:MTN Plans to Sell its Afghanistan Business
The top Emerging Ecosystems are still at their earliest stages of growth.
In the ten years between 2011 and 2020, the Top 100 emerging ecosystems spawned 124 billion-dollar startups, with 53 ecosystems accounting for the bulk. The Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems have a total ecosystem value of approximately $540 billion, up 55 percent from last year, according to the report.
In Africa, Lagos is ahead of Cairo which places second. Nairobi, Kenya is third, while Cape Town, South Africa, ranks fourth in Africa and 81st in the world.
This year, Mumbai rose to the top of the Emerging Ecosystems list once more. In terms of performance, funding, experience, and talent and experience, it outperformed all others.
Global Performance
- Despite a difficult year for many, the top five global startup ecosystems remain at the top, with Silicon Valley topping the list for the second year in a row, followed by New York City and London, which are tied for second place.
- At #4 and #5, respectively, are Beijing and Boston.
- North America continues to lead the Global Rankings, with 50 percent of the Top 30 ecosystems originating from this region, followed by Asia with 27 percent and Europe with 17 percent.
- One new entrant to the Top 10 global startup ecosystems is Tokyo, which is now ranked #9, up six spots from last year. This is partly due to a rise in the number of successful exits in Tokyo, which has resulted in an increase in the ecosystem value of the city.
- In addition to Tokyo, three other ecosystems have risen through the ranks: Shenzhen has reached the Top 20 at #19, Philadelphia has risen 15 places from #43 to #28 this year, and Salt Lake-Provo has entered the Top 30 at #30.
- Other than Tokyo and Philadelphia, the largest movers this year are Toronto-Waterloo, which jumped four spots from #18 in 2020 to #14, and Seoul, which jumped from #20 in 2018 to #16 this year.
- This year sees two new entrants to the Runners-Up list — Research Triangle (the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, USA) and Dublin, Ireland.
For more on the report, visit https://startupgenome.com/report/GSER2021
Cape Town startup ecosystem Africa Cape Town startup ecosystem Africa
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer