December 22, 2024

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Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has emerged as top 20 in Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020 for the first time since the report by Startup Genome was published in 2012.

In its recent report tracking the growth of startup ecosystems around the world, Startup Genome gauges a number of metrics such as performance, funding, connectedness, talent and knowledge.

Seoul broke into the top 20 list just one year after the 2019 report named the South Korean city in the Next 30 list. 

Seoul and Tokyo, ranked at No. 15 and also a new entrant in the top 20, have received the maximum score in the knowledge metric -- a measure of R&D activity.

Seoul, however, performed worse in overall funding and local connectedness compared to its rank, the report said. Seoul scored 3 out of 10 for funding access - a function of early-stage funding volume and funding growth -- and 5 for quality and activity -- a combination of the number of local investors, investors’ experience and investors’ activity. Local connectedness, referring to a function of the number of tech meetups in the ecosystem, scored just 1 out of 10.

Startup Genome valued Seoul’s startup ecosystem at US$29 billion. This compares with Silicon Valley’s US$677 billion, which is at the top of the list.

In Asia, Beijing ranks No. 4 same as maintaining its position since 2017 and Shenzhen and Hangzhou have also become new entrants to the Top 20.



By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)