Perhaps the least surprising fact is that the United States is still the nation that produces the highest valued startups. App based taxi service Uber for example is valued at tens of billions. The US has also housed 4.8 million businesses in the past year. The most surprising fact however is that they are not even in the top ten when it comes to being the most entrepreneurial. This measure is determined by how many startups per person there are. The country that tops this list is Uganda, with other emerging economies like Cameroon, Brazil and Thailand not far behind.
The reason they outrank the United States is because US businesses have been competing for many years and have reached a point where certain corporations dominate the marketplace. In emerging economies, the winners have yet to be decided, allowing a more level playing field for new businesses to enter. Furthermore, due to poverty there is much more emphasis on local trade. Everyone is farming or offering a service to survive. In the US most people work for other people.
So while not everyone in the US is starting new businesses, wealth created by the capitalist experiment is helping to create the most innovative and financially successful businesses today. Uber is currently valued at $51 billion. Accommodation marketplace Airbnb is valued at $25.5 billion. And mobile app Snapchat is worth $16 billion. The only other country significantly represented on the list is China, whose electronics firm Xiaomi is valued at $46 billion. Otherwise it is mainly a US top ten. The US also dominates the list of startups that have just reached the billion dollar "unicorn" status, with healthcare firm Stemcentrx being valued $3 billion in October, cyber security company Okta valued at $1.2 billion, and internet software developer Apttus just breaking £1 billion.
Germany's online food marketplace HelloFresh and France's ridesharing site BlaBlaCar, also make the list at $2.9 billion and $1.6 billion respectively. For more interesting facts about startups from around the world, their markets, and the investors behind them, check out the following infographic: coupofy
Infographic by: coupofy.com