Today, the economic structure, budget revenues, and population income of any modern city increasingly depend not only on the presence of offices of large financial and industrial corporations, but also on the headquarters of rapidly growing high-tech startups.

In fact, every major city functions as a startup ecosystem, aiming to create conditions that support the growth, development, and attraction of successful startups—from the initial stage to scaling, going public, and achieving unicorn status.

Experts at the CDP Center have prepared a brief overview of the development dynamics of Top Startup Ecosystem Cities in Europe and America. This overview is particularly noteworthy, as cities across Europe and America are engaged in fierce competition to attract fast-growing startups and relocate the headquarters of unicorn companies. It highlights key benchmarks for evaluating the success of a Startup Ecosystem City. Such ecosystems comprise various groups of participants involved in the growth and development of startups.

Venture funds, investment companies, and financial market institutions are the key participants that define any Startup Ecosystem City.

The comparison of dynamics was conducted for 15 U.S. and 11 European Startup Ecosystem Cities included in the list of the world’s leading global startup ecosystems, according to Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2024.

1. Startup Ecosystem Cities by Ratio of New Unicorns to Number of Exits and Average Exit Size in 2024

The key final metric for evaluating startup development is the number that reach either an exit or unicorn status. For each Startup Ecosystem City, we analyzed differences in average exit size, the number of exits, and the number of new unicorns in 2024.

Silicon Valley remains the undisputed leader in the number of new unicorns. However, London surpasses it in the total number of exits. Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Boston closely follow in annual exit numbers. Interestingly, while San Diego (USD 256M), Chicago (USD 245M), and Denver-Boulder (USD 238M) significantly exceed Silicon Valley's average exit value (USD 155M), they lag far behind in the number of new unicorns.

Among European cities, London leads in the number of new unicorns (6, slightly ahead of Paris) and is the clear frontrunner in exits, with 619 compared to Paris’s 336. Other cities—such as the Netherlands, Stockholm, Munich, and Berlin—trail by a factor of 5.5 to 6 in this metric. In terms of average round size, London also dominates, with USD 71.4M, far ahead of Stockholm (USD 40.9M), Munich (USD 30.1M), and Paris (USD 26.8M).

2. Startup Ecosystem Cities by the Ratio of New Unicorns to Venture Funding (2014–2024)

Interestingly, a 10-year historical analysis reveals a strong correlation in both U.S. and European ecosystems between the rise in the number of unicorns and the total volume of venture investment within the ecosystem.

Over the past 10 years, the undisputed global leaders in both investment volume and the number of new unicorns (2024 vs. 2014) have been Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston. Los Angeles and London have demonstrated very similar performance levels.

In a more detailed analysis of European ecosystems, London leads by a significant margin, followed by Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm. Notably, the smaller the ecosystem, the weaker the correlation between venture funding volume and the number of unicorns.

3. Startup Ecosystem Cities by Individual Growth Dynamics (2019–2024)

It is evident that the list of leading cities based on indicators of Startup Ecosystem City success remains relatively stable. However, it is particularly interesting to examine the individual development dynamics of each Startup Ecosystem City over time. Many of these cities have demonstrated truly outstanding progress. In fact, they have significantly increased their attractiveness to growing startups over the past decade, achieving results that far surpass their own performance from ten years ago.

In the list of Startup Ecosystem Cities that demonstrated the largest increase in the number of unicorn companies relative to their 2019 levels, Dallas (Texas) stands out with a 6.5-fold growth. Dublin also showed significant progress, with the number of unicorns rising 5.5 times—from 2 to 11. New York City reached a new high of 220 unicorns, representing a 3.4-fold increase compared to 2019.

The Top 10 cities by growth in unicorn numbers is split 4 vs 6 between European and American Startup Ecosystem Cities, which, in our view, indicates a stable level of competition between the two regions.

In terms of the number of exits, the undisputed leaders in growth dynamics are Denver-Boulder and Miami. In these Startup Ecosystem Cities, exit volumes increased by 18.1 and 16.3 times, respectively—significantly outpacing the growth seen in other cities over the past decade.

Notably, U.S. Startup Ecosystem Cities have demonstrated much stronger performance in this area compared to their European counterparts. Only London and Copenhagen made it into the Top 10, with 10-year growth rates of 2.5 and 1.7 times, respectively.

This disparity is largely attributed to the deeper and more mature financial markets in the United States, including a more developed and unified securities market. However, in recent years, the European Union has been making considerable efforts to strengthen its financial infrastructure. As a result, we may see significant improvements in exit dynamics among European Startup Ecosystem Cities in the coming years.

In terms of the Volume of Venture Capital, Miami and Zurich stand out among the top Startup Ecosystem Cities, with increases of 16.9 and 15 times, respectively, compared to their 2014 levels. Notably, five European cities appear among the top performers in venture capital growth—an outcome largely driven by active policies promoting private venture investment through programs led by the EIB, EIF, and various national initiatives. This demonstrates the significant effectiveness of these programs.

We expect this positive momentum to continue across many European Startup Ecosystem Cities. At the same time, Silicon Valley, the absolute leader among global urban startup ecosystems, shows no signs of slowing down. Despite already high performance, it continues to attract increasing volumes of venture capital.

In upcoming reviews focused on urban startup ecosystems, we will explore the key success factors that enhance ecosystem attractiveness for both startup founders and investors.