Seoul ranked 9th best city for startup ecosystem in 2024 Startup Genome report

SEOUL, Seoul was ranked the ninth best city for launching a startup in an annual report published on Monday by a U.S. startup research firm, the highest spot the city has ever achieved.

The 2024 Global Startup Ecosystem Report by Startup Genome, which surveyed 300 cities across 100 nations, ranked Seoul as ninth strongest in the startup ecosystem category, up from 12th last year and 10th in 2022.

Its Northeast Asian rival cities, Tokyo and Shanghai, were ranked 10th and 11th, respectively, while Silicon Valley of the U.S. topped the list, followed by New York and London, which were jointly ranked second.

The report put the value of Seoul’s startup ecosystem at 308 trillion won (US$223.4 billion), marking more than a fivefold increase from 54 trillion won in 2021, the city officials noted.

The existence of around 20 “unicorn” firms, or unlisted startups valued at over $1 billion, including Danggeun Market Inc. and Shift Up Corp., was analyzed as having influenced the 2024 ranking.

In the five assessment
categories for the ranking, the capital received a full score of 10 in fundraising and nine in three other areas: ecosystem activities, creativity experience and talent nurturing, and knowledge accumulation.

In the fundraising category, Seoul was ranked No. 1 among Asian cities.

The report cited AI, big data, analytics, bioscience, high-tech manufacturing and robotics as areas in which Seoul is dominant in terms of the startup ecosystem.

Source: Yonhap News Agency