Compare startup ecosystems against your company’s actual needs—not a universal “best startup city” ranking. Define your customers, hiring needs, capital requirements, regulatory exposure and founder constraints first; then assess each candidate with the same scorecard, check what the data really measures and validate the picture locally.
Why the best place depends on the company
A startup ecosystem is more than a cluster of investors or technology firms. The OECD defines entrepreneurial ecosystems as “the broad set of interacting actors and factors that impact on the scale and quality of entrepreneurship in a place.” Its Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostics (2025) compares all 38 OECD countries using a multidimensional pilot framework, not a single overall winner. OECD, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostics (2025)
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A place that works well for a venture-backed software company may be a poor fit for a business that depends on local customers, specialist manufacturing, regulated services or a workforce available in person. Start with the company’s likely bottleneck: customer access, a particular skill, suitable financing, permission to operate, or something else. Separate what must be in place at launch from advantages that matter mainly during growth.
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Make one scorecard for every candidate city or country. For each measure, keep the raw value alongside any normalized score and record the source, geography, reference period, definition and confidence. The OECD framework offers a useful set of dimensions: Institutions, Culture, Networks, Infrastructure, Markets, Finance, Knowledge, Talent, Leadership and Intermediate Services. It draws on about 40 indicators for its input indexes and also examines entrepreneurship outcomes and social and regional variation. OECD framework and indicators
| Dimension | What to assess for your company |
|---|---|
| Markets | Access to target customers, procurement channels, distribution and relevant industry clusters. |
| Talent | Availability of the specific skills you need and the practical ability to recruit them. |
| Finance | Whether capital is available at your stage and in a form suited to the business. Early-stage venture capital per capita, for example, does not tell you whether a particular founder is likely to raise. |
| Institutions and business rules | Relevant rule-of-law conditions, tax and employment obligations, product-market regulation and business-entry requirements. |
| Networks and intermediate services | Access to relevant founders, investors, mentors, universities, accelerators and other support. The OECD treats Networks and Intermediate Services as distinct inputs. |
| Infrastructure and knowledge | Connectivity, transport, universities and other knowledge resources that matter to the work. |
| Outcomes | Measures such as employer-firm births, survival or growth, and young equity-backed firms—choosing measures relevant to your business model. |
| Distribution and access | Variation among regions and groups; a national average may not describe a particular city or founder’s access to opportunity. |
Keep inputs and outcomes distinct. Inputs describe conditions that may support entrepreneurship; outcomes describe what happened in a defined place and period. A high rate of firm creation or growth does not establish that the ecosystem caused it or that a new entrant will achieve the same result. The OECD includes measures of regional distribution and representation of women and “missing entrepreneurs” in its diagnostic. OECD outcome and variation indicators
Assign weights only after deciding which constraints matter. If you use a weighted score, publish the weights and check whether reasonable alternative weights change the ordering. Mark missing data as missing rather than treating it as an average score.
Rank #2
What should I look for when choosing where to start a company?
Translate the company’s operating model into questions you can answer for each candidate:
- Customers: Where are target buyers, and can you reach them through local sales, procurement or distribution?
- Hiring: Which roles are essential, how scarce are those skills locally, and can the company recruit people under its likely working model?
- Capital: What amount, type and timing of funding may be needed? Does the local financing environment serve that stage and business model?
- Operations: Which suppliers, partners, facilities, transport links or digital infrastructure are necessary?
- Rules: What incorporation, licensing, tax, employment, intellectual-property or product-market obligations apply?
- Founder constraints: Can the founders live and work there, and are residency or mobility requirements compatible with the plan?
Distinguish requirements that could prevent launch from preferences that might improve later scaling. This keeps a broad ecosystem indicator from outweighing a hard constraint—for example, a financing advantage that does not compensate for a market-access or licensing barrier.
Rank #3
Compare business rules on paper with conditions in practice
For each location, investigate the steps and obligations that affect the actual company: incorporation and business entry, relevant licences, taxes, employment requirements, intellectual-property protection, and the time and cost of completing necessary processes. The World Bank’s B-READY methodology is a useful comparison model because it separates the regulatory framework, relevant public services, and operational efficiency. Its business-entry and business-location topics illustrate why written rules and the practical experience of using public services are different questions. World Bank B-READY methodology
For a company that needs premises, the business-location topic also considers relevant rules and services for property transfer, building and environmental permissions. The World Bank says its 2025 interim B-READY edition covers 101 economies; the project is rolling out over 2024–2026, so confirm whether a particular economy and topic are covered in the edition you use. These comparisons can guide questions, but current incorporation, immigration, tax, employment and licensing requirements are jurisdiction-specific. Get qualified local advice before making a move.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do I compare startup hubs beyond rankings?
Use an index to identify questions, not to make the location decision for you. Before comparing any two scores, check whether they cover the same geography, population, definitions and time periods. A country-level figure cannot determine which city or neighborhood fits a company. A ranking focused on technology or venture-backed companies may tell you little about a small business or a different industry.
The OECD diagnostic uses three rolling historical data periods: 2016–2020, 2018–2022 and 2020–2023. The latest period is not a real-time reading. OECD data periods Startup Genome’s 2025 methodology defines “Ecosystem Value” using exits and funding rounds from H2 2022–2024. That is a particular measure over a specified window, not a comprehensive proxy for every company’s prospects. Startup Genome, 2025 methodology
Read the underlying indicators and sources before relying on a composite score. International comparisons may cover selected cities or regions, only some ecosystem determinants or countries, or particular forms of entrepreneurship. An index can also reward scale or a history of concentrated funding, which may not match your objective.
Validate the shortlist with local evidence
Aggregate data cannot answer every operating question. Speak with people who understand the specific market and verify facts against current local sources. Use interviews to investigate experience, not as a substitute for representative evidence.
- Test customer access: Ask prospective buyers, distributors or procurement contacts how a new company can reach them and what obstacles to expect.
- Check hiring assumptions: Talk to relevant employers, recruiters or professional networks about the skills you need and likely recruiting lead times.
- Verify capital fit: Discuss the company’s stage and business model with relevant investors and founders; general funding totals do not establish appetite for your venture.
- Walk through administration: Confirm the actual steps, services and permissions with current local sources and qualified advisers.
- Revisit the scorecard: Update uncertain entries, preserve the evidence and test whether the preferred location changes when you adjust plausible weights.
The OECD describes its diagnostics as an entry point for deeper analysis and stakeholder dialogue. Treat a shortlist as a basis for this kind of local validation, not a finished verdict.
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