The Top 100 Trending Startup Cities

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30 Sept 2024

Curious about where startups thrive?

Startups of The Year 2023 celebrated 1,382 winners on January 24, 2024, after a 9-month journey that kicked off in May. We’ve open-sourced the voting data, offering insights into global startup hubs, popular domain endings, and more for those who want to explore further.

Each winning startup received a free .Tech domain, a HackerNoon NFT, and an Evergreen Company Page. These pages include key business details like headcount, founding year, social links, domain ranking, live updates from HackerNoon stories, and relevant headlines. Public companies also get rankings and stock price visuals.

By analyzing the total votes received by startups in each city, we’ve measured the global interest of the HackerNoon community and compiled the findings into this detailed breakdown. Enjoy!

Most voted on Startup City Award (Rank By Votes, Name, Population, Votes)

RANK

CITY NAME

POPULATION

VOTES

1

Sydney

5.3 million

159,361

2

London

9.5 million

138,496

3

Singapore

5.6 million

38,887

4

Telangana

39 million

22,064

5

San Francisco

873,000

19,147

6

Mumbai

20.7 million

13,974

7

Austin

975,000

12,756

8

Cleveland

367,000

11,770

9

Bengaluru

13.6 million

8,452

10

Algiers

4.5 million

8,184

11

Manhattan

1.6 million

7,898

12

Chicago

2.7 million

5,616

13

Melbourne

5.1 million

4,817

14

SoMa

30,000

4,630

15

Tel Aviv

465,000

4,551

16

Dubai

3.5 million

4,063

17

Visakhapatnam

2.2 million

3,929

18

Toronto

2.9 million

3,902

19

New York City

8.5 million

3,777

20

Berlin

3.6 million

3,773

21

Seattle

740,000

3,640

22

Los Angeles

3.9 million

3,210

23

Palo Alto

68,000

2,930

24

Warsaw

1.8 million

2,861

25

Miami

454,000

2,801

26

Powai

150,000

2,503

27

Perth

2.1 million

2,349

28

Ghent

260,000

2,097

29

Boston

645,000

1,996

30

Dublin

1.3 million

1,976

31

Amsterdam

920,000

1,970

32

Bari

320,000

1,959

33

Downtown San Francisco

873,000

1,758

34

Kyiv

2.9 million

1,709

35

Tallinn

445,000

1,697

36

Lagos

16 million

1,676

37

Frankfurt Am Main

770,000

1,636

38

Paris

2.2 million

1,553

39

Barcelona

1.6 million

1,481

40

Delhi

32 million

1,312

41

Lisbon

545,000

1,257

42

Alcobendas

116,000

1,182

43

Houston

2.3 million

1,182

44

Hong Kong

7.3 million

1,181

45

Accra

2.5 million

1,178

46

Ahmedabad

8.3 million

1,157

47

Stockholm

975,000

1,135

48

Zurich

440,000

1,133

49

Munich

1.5 million

1,047

50

Mexico City

22 million

1,042

51

Gibraltar

34,000

1,039

52

Washington DC

670,000

1,039

53

San Diego

1.4 million

1,038

54

Santiago

6.3 million

1,030

55

Buenos Aires

15 million

1,015

56

Lombardy

10 million

1,001

57

Noida

750,000

958

58

Tokyo

37.5 million

950

59

Chennai

11.2 million

946

60

San Jose

1.1 million

923

61

Seoul

9.5 million

917

62

Denver

740,000

901

63

Gurgaon

1.2 million

900

64

Zug

30,000

878

65

Hyderabad

10.2 million

876

66

Oslo

700,000

808

67

Atlanta

510,000

716

68

Goa, India

1.5 million

716

69

San Francisco, Bay Area

7.75 million

702

70

Brooklyn

2.7 million

695

71

Vienna

2 million

682

72

Richmond

116,000

681

73

Sao Paulo

12.4 million

667

74

Columbus

922,000

662

75

Pune

7.7 million

623

76

Jaipur

4 million

619

77

Kuala Lumpur

1.9 million

609

78

Charlottesville

46,000

530

79

Pittsburgh

303,000

510

80

Montreal

1.8 million

504

81

Copenhagen

805,000

503

82

Vancouver

675,000

490

83

Baku

2.3 million

489

84

Madrid

6.7 million

466

85

New Delhi

32 million

433

86

San Mateo

105,000

428

87

Atasehir

422,000

396

88

Vilnius

600,000

390

89

Phasi Charoen

130,000

381

90

JLT

75,000

374

91

Tampa

385,000

374

92

Rome

2.8 million

372

93

Bangkok

11 million

352

94

Wilmington

71,000

352

95

Istanbul

15.8 million

341

96

California

39 million

336

97

Dallas

1.3 million

328

98

Bangalore Urban

1.3 million

327

99

Mountain View

82,000

315

100

Limassol

240,000

308

Data from the 2023 Startups of The Year shows that locations historically known for being startup-friendly through business and tax incentives—like Singapore (3rd), Dublin (30th), and Dubai (17th)—attracted global interest in their startups, far surpassing their local populations.

Despite their strong reputations as business and tax havens, several cities have underperformed in global interest. Zug, Switzerland (64th), Luxembourg, and New Delhi (85th) have all seen lower-than-expected engagement. Even San Francisco (5th), despite its tech dominance, together with Dubai (16th) and Hong Kong (44th), known for their pro-business environments, haven't captured as much global attention as their track records would suggest.

Several smaller or unexpected cities have ranked surprisingly high. Cleveland ranks 8th with 11,770 votes, despite not being a typical global business hub. SoMa, a San Francisco neighborhood, is 14th with 4,630 votes, despite its tiny population. Gibraltar stands out at 51st, likely due to its financial center status, despite having just 34,000 residents.

These trends illustrate a shifting landscape in global startup interest, where both traditional and emerging locations experience varying degrees of success. While some well-established hubs are failing to attract the anticipated global engagement, smaller, unconventional cities are making unexpected progress. This indicates that the global startup ecosystem is becoming more dynamic and dispersed, with opportunities emerging in a wider range of locations. We look forward to seeing what the next Startups of the Year data will reveal as these trends continue to evolve.

Startups can thrive anywhere!

Reflecting on the Startups of The Year 2023 data, it’s clear that startups can emerge from any corner of the globe. This is a strong testament to how technology has democratized entrepreneurship. Several factors have contributed to this shift, including easier access to technology and tools, the rise of remote work and global talent acquisition, and local innovation initiatives.

  • Access to technology and tools: Thanks to the widespread access to digital tools and cloud technologies, startups can thrive everywhere. Platforms like AWS and GitHub help startups to operate globally from any location, allowing less traditionally recognized and even remote regions to launch competitive businesses on a global scale.

  • The shift toward remote work and hiring global talents: The rise of remote work has left a lasting mark on the startup ecosystem by allowing companies to recruit top talent from anywhere in the world (take HackerNoon for example). This trend has opened opportunities for startups as they can now build strong teams without the need for physical relocation, significantly leveling what the global market has to offer.

Local innovation initiatives: Local governments and institutions are increasingly providing support and funding to nurture startups within their regions. For instance, initiatives in cities like Boulder (US) and Lagos (Nigeria) have seen significant investment in infrastructure to support tech startups, reflecting a growing recognition that fostering local innovation is key to economic development.

With that being said, startups no longer have to be confined to traditional tech hubs such as San Francisco or New York. They can now emerge and succeed from any part of the world, driven by technology, global connection, and local support.

Check out what some of the 2023 Startup participants had to say about their company, experiences, global startup interest, and the future of startups:

  1. Meet C-Power, Winner of the Startups of The Year in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
  2. Meet HarperDB, Winner of the Startups of The Year in Denver
  3. Meet Roam Telecoms, Runner-up of the Startups of The Year in London, UK
  4. Meet React Bricks, Runner-up of the Startups of The Year in Lombardy, Italy
  5. Meet Hoken Tech, Winner of the Startups of The Year in Bari

Meanwhile, subscribe to our Startups page to stay informed on all the latest updates about Startups of the Year.


About HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year

Startups of The Year 2024 is HackerNoon’s flagship community-driven event celebrating startups, technology, and the spirit of innovation. Currently in its third iteration, the prestigious Internet award recognizes and celebrates tech startups of all shapes and sizes. This year, over 150,000 entities across 4200+ cities, 6 continents, and 100+ industries will participate in a bid to be crowned the best startup of the year! Millions of votes have been cast over the past few years, and many stories have been written about these daring and rising startups.

The winners will get a free interview on HackerNoon and an Evergreen Tech Company News page.

Visit our FAQ page to learn more. Read more about this year’s design system here.

HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year is a branding opportunity unlike any other. Whether your goal is brand awareness or lead generation, HackerNoon has curated startup-friendly packages to solve your marketing challenges.

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