The global buzz surrounding the startup mentality has only been on the rise over the past decade or so. With the whole world adapting to the growth of startups, it has made it more crucial than ever to build an environment that fosters invention and creativity. This has resulted in the emergence of several startup hotspots around the world, with the number steadily expanding. Despite the fact that many people still prefer 9 to5 jobs, several surveys show that the number of startups are increasing.

According to a detailed assessment of worldwide startup hubs collected by Startup Genome for its annual Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021, London, Mumbai, and Bangalore are among the world's top startup hubs. Despite Brexit and the coronavirus outbreak, London tied with New York for second position for the second year in a row. Bangalore was likewise listed in the top 30 global IT centres (#23), and Delhi was ranked 36th in the top 40 list. In terms of finance, performance, market research, and talent, Mumbai remained number one in the Emerging Ecosystems ranking outperforming other fast-growing ecosystems.

According to the report, Indian entrepreneurs raised $12.1 billion in the first half of this year, illustrating India's rapid rise as a global tech and innovation engine. India has created 24 unicorns as of August 2021, including six in just four days in April. Bengaluru and the surrounding state of Karnataka are also home to more than 400 global R&D centres, making it the world's fourth largest technology and innovation cluster. Along with Mumbai, a number of other Indian cities, including Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad, made the ‘Top 100 Emerging Ecosystems' list.
According to the data, London is one of the greatest cities in the world for access to capital, quality, and activity in the investment ecosystem (referring to the number of local investors, investor experience and their level of activity). This year has already seen record levels of VC tech investment, with $13.3 billion invested in London's digital firms in the first seven months (January to July), more than the $10.9 billion raised in the entire year of 2020. Major fundraising rounds like Revolut ($800 million), Checkout.com ($450 million), and Hopin ($400 million) have reinforced London's promising start to 2021.

Bangalore's position was improved by recent major fundraising rounds from food delivery platform Swiggy ($1.3 billion), social media startup ShareChat ($502 million), and edtech firm Byju ($460 million).

In comparison to other international tech centres, London companies have access to larger pools of cash, with an average seed round of $653k, which is higher than the global average of $494k. London now has more venture capital firms than any other European city, providing access to a large network of investors and a significant amount of capital in the ecosystem.

A number of international investment firms have lately grown their presence in London, with Index Ventures launching a $3.1 billion fund for European start-ups in July and Silicon Valley-based VC Sequoia Capital declaring that it has expanded its foothold in the UK capital.

London is also known for its world-class talent pool, with the city rating highly for quality and access to Tech and Life Sciences professionals across the board. London is home to 484k software engineers as well as a large number of Life Sciences-focused universities and degree programmes, with four of the world's top 10 universities located in or close to the city.

Janet Coyle, Managing Director Business Growth, London & Partners said, “India and London have shared strengths in technology, innovation and entrepreneurship and today’s report findings demonstrate the abundance of opportunities for Indian tech companies looking to London for international expansion. For startups and high growth companies considering global expansion, London has access to high levels of funding, talent and customers all in one city. As one of the world’s leading hub for innovation, there is huge opportunity for London to collaborate with other fast-growing startup hubs like Bangalore and Mumbai.”

While the United States and China have long been seen as global superpowers in the startup and tech industries, the epidemic has hastened the democratisation of startups, and Europe is rapidly solidifying its position on the world scene. According to the research, Europe is responsible for 17% of the top 30 ecosystems this year, with London being the only European city to make the top ten. Tokyo (from #15 to #9), Seoul (from #20 to #16), Shenzhen (from #22 to #19), Bengaluru (from #26 to #23), and Hangzhou (from #28 to #25) are all going up the rankings.

The 2018 Global Startup Ecosystem Report is released in conjunction with London Tech Week, which brings together the global tech community to discuss how technology can help solve some of the world's most pressing problems. Hilary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, Sebastian Siemi at kowski, Co-founder and CEO of Klarna, Alex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4, and Maria Raga, Founder and CEO of Depop are among the speakers scheduled for the week.