The cities where startups get the most funding: FINOM index
London tops the list for having the largest number of funded startups among global cities, according to the newly released Innovation in Business Index developed by fintech firm FINOM. And it's also the city with the largest amount of venture capital funding raised since 2010 – unsurprising given that London has been one of the go-to locations for fast-growing early-stage tech companies for some years now.
FINOM's index covers 100 cities that, according to the company's methodology, were selected based on their start-up activity, research capabilities, and strong industrial presence. It analyses various aspects of the startup landscape in those cities, including the maturity and sector diversity of startup activity, the quality of new companies, and the financial backing on offer in each location.
Besides London, the index also highlighted other cities that can be considered highly welcoming to startups, at least in terms of funding. Boston, Beijing, Seoul, and New York topped the list for the amount of funding raised in the last decade; the next few on the list include Singapore, Los Angeles, and Sydney.
However, the index suggests that the funding in some of these cities may be skewed – going to a comparatively smaller number of startups. Boston and Seoul, for example, are much further down the list when it comes to the number of startups that have actually received funding since 2015, meaning that even though a lot of venture capital is being invested, it may be concentrated on only certain industries. In comparison, New York and Beijing apparently have a much larger proportion of startups that received funding, with Los Angeles and Singapore somewhat further behind.