Technology

Tech Startup Ecosystem Rankings for 2015 [Chart]

Published

8 years ago

July 31, 2015

Jeff Desjardins

Tech Startup Ecosystem Rankings for 2015 [Chart]

Canadian cities get decimated; NYC, Austin, Singapore, and Berlin shoot up startup ecosystem rankings

The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.

The Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2015 report ranks the top 20 technology startup ecosystems in the world based on Performance, Funding, Market Reach, Talent, and Startup Experience.

Performance is based on the funding and exit valuations of startups headquartered in the ecosystem, and Funding represents the amount of investments by venture capitalists and the time it takes to raise capital. Talent is based on the quality of technical talent, availability, and cost. Market Reach is the local system’s GDP and ease of reaching customers internationally, while Startup Experience is a qualitative measure based on surveying veteran startup mentors and local founders on the success of startups in that particular region.

The report had several significant findings since its last iteration in late 2012. Particular stories that stand out: Canadian cities are dropping drastically, cities outside of North America such as Berlin and Singapore are climbing the rankings, and the United States remains strong with four of the top five ecosystems.

Despite having many companies in the Narwhal Club, home to companies valued at more than $1 billion such as Slack, Hootsuite, and Avigilon, the Canadian market has struggled relative to the rest of the world. Waterloo, home of the once-mighty RIM, has fallen out of the Top 20 altogether. Toronto and Vancouver each dropped nine spots, more than any other ecosystem on the list, claiming the #17 and #18 spots respectively. Vancouver had the third slowest growth out of all cities in the index, and continues to struggle as far as funding goes. Toronto had the fifth slowest growth and also needs to expand growth to venture capital.

In good news for Canada, Montreal debuted on the list, but only at #20.

Slower growth in Canada has been met with exploding markets in Berlin and Singapore. Both of these international centers have had recent success stories that have moved them up the startup ecosystem rankings.

Berlin jumped an impressive six spots to #9 overall and had 20x the average growth of all startup markets. Zalando, Europe’s largest online-only fashion retailer raised $668 million in an IPO to value the company at $6.8 billion overall. Meanwhile, Rocket Internet had the biggest IPO since 2007 in Germany, raising $2 billion.

Singapore moved up seven places, more than any other ecosystem, to round out the Top 10. Growth was relatively average, but the government’s support of the ecosystem and Singapore’s strong financial community helped out its ranking in the Funding category. Garena, a social gaming platform, is valued at $2.5 billion and is one of Singapore’s bright stars.

Lastly, the United States remained on top of the leaderboard with four cities in the Top 5. Silicon Valley remains at the top of the list with the best rankings in all categories (except Market Reach). New York jumped up three spots to finish #2, having the best Market Reach of all cities in the index. Los Angeles and Boston are right behind with the #3 and #4 spots. Austin is also notable, as it debuted on the rankings this year at 14th place.

Related Topics:startups tech venture capital ranking ecosystems

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Technology

Infographic: Generative AI Explained by AI

What exactly is generative AI and how does it work? This infographic, created using generative AI tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT, explains it all.

Published

3 days ago

February 1, 2023

Nick Routley

Generative AI Explained by AI

After years of research, it appears that artificial intelligence (AI) is reaching a sort of tipping point, capturing the imaginations of everyone from students saving time on their essay writing to leaders at the world’s largest tech companies. Excitement is building around the possibilities that AI tools unlock, but what exactly these tools are capable of and how they work is still not widely understood.

We could write about this in detail, but given how advanced tools like ChatGPT have become, it only seems right to see what generative AI has to say about itself.

Everything in the infographic above – from illustrations and icons to the text descriptions⁠—was created using generative AI tools such as Midjourney. Everything that follows in this article was generated using ChatGPT based on specific prompts.

Without further ado, generative AI as explained by generative AI.

Generative AI: An Introduction

Generative AI refers to a category of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that generate new outputs based on the data they have been trained on. Unlike traditional AI systems that are designed to recognize patterns and make predictions, generative AI creates new content in the form of images, text, audio, and more.

Generative AI uses a type of deep learning called generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create new content. A GAN consists of two neural networks: a generator that creates new data and a discriminator that evaluates the data. The generator and discriminator work together, with the generator improving its outputs based on the feedback it receives from the discriminator until it generates content that is indistinguishable from real data.

Generative AI has a wide range of applications, including:

Images: Generative AI can create new images based on existing ones, such as creating a new portrait based on a person’s face or a new landscape based on existing scenery
Text: Generative AI can be used to write news articles, poetry, and even scripts. It can also be used to translate text from one language to another
Audio: Generative AI can generate new music tracks, sound effects, and even voice acting

Disrupting Industries

People have concerns that generative AI and automation will lead to job displacement and unemployment, as machines become capable of performing tasks that were previously done by humans. They worry that the increasing use of AI will lead to a shrinking job market, particularly in industries such as manufacturing, customer service, and data entry.

Generative AI has the potential to disrupt several industries, including:

Advertising: Generative AI can create new advertisements based on existing ones, making it easier for companies to reach new audiences
Art and Design: Generative AI can help artists and designers create new works by generating new ideas and concepts
Entertainment: Generative AI can create new video games, movies, and TV shows, making it easier for content creators to reach new audiences

Overall, while there are valid concerns about the impact of AI on the job market, there are also many potential benefits that could positively impact workers and the economy.

In the short term, generative AI tools can have positive impacts on the job market as well. For example, AI can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, and help humans make faster and more informed decisions by processing and analyzing large amounts of data. AI tools can free up time for humans to focus on more creative and value-adding work.

How This Article Was Created

This article was created using a language model AI trained by OpenAI. The AI was trained on a large dataset of text and was able to generate a new article based on the prompt given. In simple terms, the AI was fed information about what to write about and then generated the article based on that information.

In conclusion, generative AI is a powerful tool that has the potential to revolutionize several industries. With its ability to create new content based on existing data, generative AI has the potential to change the way we create and consume content in the future.