However, movements in the ranking were observed. The cities of Boston and Beijing fell out of the top five and were replaced by Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, which climbed to fourth and fifth place. Singapore stands out with an impressive jump from 18th place^e at 8^e Location.

Among the Canadian cities is Toronto-Waterloo (17^e), Vancouver (30^e) and Montreal (40^e) each retained their position in the ranking. Proof of its entrepreneurial dynamism is the birth of 18 unicorns in 2021 and 15 in 2022 in Canada. A significant portion of these young startups valued at more than a billion dollars come from the Montreal ecosystem.

New financing dynamics

The current global economic environment has played a crucial role for many start-ups. Overall, fewer startups were funded in 2022, but they received larger sums.

The situation was more difficult in North America, which saw a 26% decline in startup funding, the largest of any region. A situation that can be explained by the presence of several mature ecosystems that encourage investors to finance established companies instead of taking risks with new start-ups. Given the reluctance of venture capitalists, many startups are considering other financing options such as crowdfunding, debt capital and investments in information technology.

Despite the challenges, GSER remains optimistic about the future of the global startup ecosystem, emphasizing the critical role entrepreneurs play in economic recovery and the sector’s ability to adapt to adversity.

Michal Michaeli, director of international economic development and technology at Tel Aviv Global & Tourism, emphasizes that crises can be favorable times for startups to emerge. “It is well known that the best companies emerge in times of crisis or downturn,” she says, noting that companies started now could have great potential for success in the years to come.