Beyond Silicon Valley: 5 up-and-coming tech start-up hubs worldwide
Mile Square Labs works with companies from San Francisco to Stockholm, and we field calls from all over the world. So we decided to highlight 5 start-up markets that are becoming booming tech cities.
Silicon Valley has long been, and probably still is the world’s leading hub when in comes to tech. We all know about the huge international companies such as Adobe, Uber, Apple, Yelp, eBay, Electronic Arts, and of course Facebook and Google and many others. As a start-up hub, it also attracts many entrepreneurs in the fields of SaaS, Electric Vehicles, Drones, AI, VR, Automation, as well as Environmental, Science and Health focused companies. However, many other international destinations are emerging as technological hubs, even presenting options and resources that rival Silicon Valley — in terms of cost-of-living, quality-of-life, networking, investment opportunities and competition.
Delhi, India
For almost a decade now, Delhi, India has been one of the most favorable locations to start a company. This central Asian nation has a major advantage over mainland China in its free and open economy. Another huge advantage lies in its high percentage of English speakers, and large number of educated, tech-savvy and highly-motivated workers — and all of this in a country where the wages are less than a third of United States standards.
While China has been making most of the headlines globally, with regards to innovation and export, India has been quietly making leaps and bounds of its own. We should not forget that India is the second most populous nation in the world, meaning that its ever-expanding population is a welcome challenge to any company that seeks rapid growth on an unprecedented scale.
In Delhi, you will find plenty of SaaS-based start-ups, that is of course on top of all the global IT companies that have either relocated there, or at least opened an office. Outsourcing has also become a major industry in the Indian capital. 70% of the world’s customer service duties are handled in India alone, and 80% of companies based in Europe and the United States choose Delhi as the preferable destination for their IT or Customer Service departments. With its rapid growth and tech talent, Delhi seems a prime location to rival Silicon Valley in the foreseeable future.
Montreal, Canada
Whereas Silicon Valley may still be the world’s largest hub for tech, AI, and of course most things IT-related, several cities, including Montreal, Berlin, and even Bangalore, India are slowly catching up.
In Montreal, you will find numerous AI start-ups, backed by the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA) and the Institute for Data Valorisation (IVADO). These institutes have close connections to the city’s world-renowned academic institutions, such as McGill and the Université de Montréal. It is the hometown of deep learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio, and it hosts many American tech companies’ Research and Development operations.
This year’s Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems will take place in Montreal and is sure to attract quite a few beginning entrepreneurs who are looking to get their feet wet in the promising field of AI. With a high level of expertise, funding and the support of local universities, Montreal may be on its way to becoming the world’s top AI hub.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai is known all over the world for its excessive architecture, decadent lifestyle, and of course oil dollars. One way this country is investing its fuel-driven riches is by investing in tech. In 2015, the emirate kicked of a $1.5 billion “innovation hub” to attract tech entrepreneurs to its shores. It is now home to an ever-expanding “Internet City,” that is set to attract investors from around the globe.
Though the city was widely written off after the global financial crisis, it has quickly recovered, largely due to its investments in infrastructure, low taxes, facilities for expats, as well as its strategic location, connecting Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The Emirate also launched a U.A.E. Drones for Good competition, awarding more than $1 million in prizes to drone start-ups launching in the country, attracting dozens of start-ups in the first year alone. Similarly, the U.A.E. 3-D Printing Innovation Alliance was launched, bringing together local printer companies, and regional and international entrepreneurs in an attempt to galvanize the popularity of this new technology. Though Silicon Valley may be ahead in terms of the number of homegrown successful tech companies, there is no telling what the industry in Dubai can achieve with the U.A.E.’s massive financial support.
Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel is home to over 4,000 start-ups, and almost 3,000 of them are located in or around Tel Aviv. It is home to international firms like Waze and Gett, and with so many start-ups it should come as no surprize that the city has earned the nickname “Silicon Wadi.” The start-up scene in Silicon Wadi has been pumping out start-ups for the past five years. Recently, battery company StoreDot received a $60 million investment and there are many blockchain companies emerging from Tel Aviv garnering attention for the solid tech & successful ICO / fundraising efforts.
Tel Aviv also benefits from an excellent location, as an aviation hub between Europe, Africa and Asia, so you can be sure that your new start-up will have access to professionals and investors from all corners of the globe.
The city also benefits from various accelerators, including 500 Startups, Techstars and Founder Institute, not to mention recognized incubators such as The Time and Samurai Incubate Israel. Tech entrepreneurs will lick their chops at international events such as Blockchain Israel, Pitch Tonight, and GarageGeeks. Keep an eye on Tel Aviv as it continues to thrive as a tech hub.
Seattle, USA
This multifaceted city on the north of the US west coast is known for its music scene, its coffee bars, its close proximity to nature, monuments and much more. Less well-known is that this city is home to more software developers than any other city in the world, more even than Silicon Valley itself.
The city is host to small start-ups, big tech companies, and everything in between, from giants like Amazon to small versatile companies like Moz and Zulily. Data-oriented businesses like Skykick or content sharing platforms like CheezBurger show just how diverse the Seattle start-up scene really is.
One additional benefit this city holds compared to Silicon Valley, is the price of office real estate. An office in downtown Seattle will cost you $27 per square foot per year, compared to Silicon Valley’s $37.
These 5 tech cities illustrate the endless opportunity for start-ups to not be bound by geographical limitations. The world is even more connected now than ever, so start-ups can explore new markets to start a business or relocate their start-up to perhaps one of these cities that may better satisfy their of technology, community or solution.
Where is your start-up located? What makes your city the best tech city? Leave a comment.
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Preston Junger is Yelp’s former VP of Brand Partnerships and is currently Co-Founder, Managing Director of Mile Square Labs (a tech company that helps venture-backed start-up founders grow, scale and accelerate their sales teams). Say hello anytime: Preston@MileSquareLabs.com
Need help growing community or accelerating sales/partnership efforts — share what you need help with either on LinkedIN, Telegram Messenger @Preston Junger or email hello@MileSquareLabs.com.
