Bangladesh makes significant progress in global startup index

Bangladesh has made significant progress, and moved four notches up to the 89th position in Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2023.

In 2023, the startup scene of Dhaka developed considerably and increased in the Global Ecosystem Index by 115 spots to stand in the 211th position, said the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2023 report.

Israel-based international research organization StartupBlink launched the report last week.

This year’s report ranks the startup ecosystems of 1,000 cities and 100 countries, and features several new sections and an improved algorithm.

Bangladesh was ranked 93rd consecutively in the last two years, while it was 98 in 2020.

Regarding Bangladesh’s improvement in the ranking, the report said: “Our country rankings are discounted based on population; with the large population of Bangladesh, a 4-spot increase is significant.”

The severe public transport problem in Dhaka city has been a goldmine for the startups as the city has been ranked among the top 100 

cities globally for the transportation industry.

Dhaka's climb up the Index can be attributed to the impact that its startups achieved (quality score), the report said. 

Among the South Asian nations, India ranked 21, Pakistan 76, Sri Lanka 83 in the index.

The report said Bangladesh has strong economic potential, which will require active support from the government to materialize.

“Top priorities should be improving infrastructure, including internet stability,” said the report, adding: “The government should also work on policy support, arrangement of corporate venture capital, and improving industry-academia collaboration to support the growth of startups.”

The report mentioned that the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority has built four Hi-Tech parks like Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City to elevate the growth of the local tech industry.

The index ranked the United States (US) as the best startup ecosystem, while all the top five countries maintained their position from last year.

The US is followed by the United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, and Sweden in the ranking.

Singapore, Germany, France, Australia, and the Netherlands were placed at sixth to tenth positions respectively. 

San Francisco, New York, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Beijing, Shanghai, Bangalore, Paris, and Tel Aviv were the top 10 cities on the list.