In 2023, Israel was the country with the highest number of active unicorn startups per million inhabitants. Estonia and Singapore followed behind. The United States was ranked as the best country for startups in 2024.

The ************* was by far the best country for startups in 2024, according to data provided by StartupBlink. With a total score of ***, the U.S. had almost more than **** times as many points as the second ranked **************, with a score of *****. Israel followed in third.

As of 2024, the country with the most unicorns, or privately owned companies with a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars or more, was the United States. SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks were the biggest of these American companies in terms of market valuation. Unicorns Made in China Although China did not have the highest number of unicorns worldwide, the country was home to some of the world's most important ones. ByteDance, for example, was valued at around *** billion U.S. dollars as of April 2023. This made the company not only the highest valued unicorn of China, but also the most valued unicorn of the world.

Iran IR: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data was reported at 1.400 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.200 % for 2016. Iran IR: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 3.900 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2017, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.300 % in 2004 and a record low of 1.200 % in 2016. Iran IR: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Iran – Table IR.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.; ; World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).; Unweighted average; Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

San Francisco was by far the city offering the best conditions for startups worldwide in 2023, according to data provided by StartupBlink. The total score of San Francisco, amounting to 546.43, was more than double the score of New York, which was ranked second that year. London followed in third.

Afghanistan Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data was reported at 6.800 % in 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.400 % for 2018. Afghanistan Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 26.250 % from Dec 2004 (Median) to 2019, with 16 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 84.600 % in 2007 and a record low of 6.400 % in 2018. Afghanistan Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.;World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/). NOTE: Doing Business has been discontinued as of 9/16/2021. For more information: https://bit.ly/3CLCbme;Unweighted average;Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

Azerbaijan Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data was reported at 1.200 % in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.300 % for 2018. Azerbaijan Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 2.900 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2019, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.800 % in 2003 and a record low of 1.000 % in 2013. Azerbaijan Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Azerbaijan – Table AZ.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.;World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/). NOTE: Doing Business has been discontinued as of 9/16/2021. For more information: https://bit.ly/3CLCbme;Unweighted average;Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

United States US: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data was reported at 1.100 % in 2017. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1.100 % for 2016. United States US: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 1.100 % from Dec 2013 (Median) to 2017, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.200 % in 2014 and a record low of 1.100 % in 2017. United States US: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.; ; World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).; Unweighted average; Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

Norway NO: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data was reported at 0.900 % in 2017. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.900 % for 2016. Norway NO: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 1.800 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2017, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.500 % in 2003 and a record low of 0.900 % in 2017. Norway NO: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Norway – Table NO.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.; ; World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).; Unweighted average; Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

Trinidad and Tobago TT: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data was reported at 0.800 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.600 % for 2016. Trinidad and Tobago TT: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 0.800 % from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2017, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.300 % in 2005 and a record low of 0.600 % in 2016. Trinidad and Tobago TT: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Trinidad and Tobago – Table TT.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.; ; World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).; Unweighted average; Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

Based on capital raised between Q3 2017 and Q4 2023, ************* in California is the world's most favorable city for startups. Seven out of the global 15 leading cities are in the U.S., of which 3 are in California.

Costa Rica CR: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data was reported at 9.600 % in 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 9.500 % for 2018. Costa Rica CR: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 11.400 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2019, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 15.800 % in 2012 and a record low of 8.600 % in 2017. Costa Rica CR: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Costa Rica – Table CR.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.;World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/). NOTE: Doing Business has been discontinued as of 9/16/2021. For more information: https://bit.ly/3CLCbme;Unweighted average;Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

San Marino Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data was reported at 9.100 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 8.800 % for 2016. San Marino Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 8.900 % from Dec 2012 (Median) to 2017, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.100 % in 2017 and a record low of 8.200 % in 2012. San Marino Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s San Marino – Table SM.World Bank: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.; ; World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/).; Unweighted average; Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

Most people associate startup culture with ************* and for a good reason, as the city hosted the highest number of privately held companies valued over a billion U.S. dollars, known as unicorns, in 2023. At that time, *** unicorns had their headquarters in the Californian tech capital, while ******** housed *** of them. ******* came third in the ranking with ** unicorns.

As of the end of 2024, more than **** of all unicorn companies worldwide were headquartered in North America. The two regions that hosted the fewest unicorns were South America, and Oceania with ** and * unicorns based in each of these regions. Additionally, most of the highest valued unicorns globally were based in North America or Asia. What are the world’s leading unicorn companies? As of 2023, the China-based tech company ByteDance was still the highest valued unicorn worldwide. This was followed by the U.S.-based SpaceX. The third place ranking is completed by ANT Group, a fintech giant based in China. Space X is the highest-valued unicorn in the U.S.. These three world leading startups are all valued at over 100 billion U.S. dollars. Market valuations of unicorns The finance and insurance sector, transportation and logistics, and technology and communication sectors proved the most promising for unicorns operating in these industries. Unicorns in these three sectors had a combined market value of over *** trillion U.S. dollars, higher than the market values of unicorns in all other sectors put together. Similar to the regions with the highest number of unicorns, unicorns headquartered in Asia-Pacific and North America also had the highest cumulative market valuations.

Armenia AM: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Female data was reported at 0.800 % in 2019. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.800 % for 2018. Armenia AM: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 2.600 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2019, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8.400 % in 2003 and a record low of 0.800 % in 2019. Armenia AM: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI Per Capita: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Armenia – Table AM.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.;World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/). NOTE: Doing Business has been discontinued as of 9/16/2021. For more information: https://bit.ly/3CLCbme;Unweighted average;Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.

Almost 140 more venture capital-backed companies were acquired in the first quarter of 2021 than in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2021, 631 VC-backed companies were acquired, up from only 495 in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Most of the world's unicorns as of March 2024 were active in the ******** industry. Over *** privately owned startups with a valuation of over one billion U.S. dollars were active in this sector. In comparison, there were *** unicorns operating in the ****************** sector, the industry with the sector-largest volume of unicorns.

In 2024, the United States was the leading country worldwide for venture capital (VC) investments. VC invested in the U.S. amounted to nearly *** billion U.S. dollars, far higher than the value of VC invested in China, which came second in the ranking. With a value of approximately ** billion U.S. dollars, the United Kingdom (UK) ranked third worldwide and first in Europe for VC investments in 2024.

Belarus BY: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data was reported at 0.500 % in 2019. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.500 % for 2018. Belarus BY: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data is updated yearly, averaging 2.000 % from Dec 2003 (Median) to 2019, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 32.900 % in 2005 and a record low of 0.500 % in 2019. Belarus BY: Cost of Business Start-Up Procedures: % of GNI per Capita data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belarus – Table BY.World Bank.WDI: Company Statistics. Cost to register a business is normalized by presenting it as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.;World Bank, Doing Business project (http://www.doingbusiness.org/). NOTE: Doing Business has been discontinued as of 9/16/2021. For more information: https://bit.ly/3CLCbme;Unweighted average;Data are presented for the survey year instead of publication year.