There are many ways to measure how attractive a city is to start-ups and high-tech companies. We take a look at some of them and the cities leading the pack.
What makes for a high-tech city?
2thinknow have created their current round-up of the most high-tech cities based on the following criteria, amongst others:
-How many patents filed per capita (this is a sign of innovation and a sign of how innovative welcome a city is)
-Number of start-ups (both those created in a year, and those who call the city home at any one time)
-The number and visibility of tech venture capitalists (those willing to invest their money in start-ups)
-Level of smartphone use (how connected are city residents and what are their levels of access to high-tech within a city)
Image by Annie Spratt.
Leaders of the pack
Berlin, Germany
This capital city has a strong start-up community and has long been recognised for welcoming start-ups and their founders. They also currently have some of the highest rates of venture capital investment in the whole of Europe, making them super attractive to new high-tech companies, both from within and outside of Germany. Berlin is leading in terms of its ability to attract start-ups and their founders from all across Europe, due to large numbers of incubators and accelerators based in the city, as well as its adoption of co-working spaces. The fact that it is still considered one of Europe's most affordable cities to live and work in (rents are cheaper) is also a big plus in its favour when it comes to attracting high-tech talent. In 2019, Germany attracted 3.4 billion euros in start-up investment funding, 40% of which went to companies based in Berlin. It is believed that a start-up opens in Germany, on average, every 20 minutes. One of the city's biggest success stories is the online automobile dealer, AUTO1. It helps also that Berlin is considered a great place to live for the young, creative and innovative. This makes it easy to attract those who not only found start-ups but keep them running too. The city also has its google-backed Factory Berlin, whose aim is to encourage greater innovation amongst the city's high-tech professionals and innovators.
London, England
London leads when it comes to number of start-ups and programmers/developers within the city. It is believed to have more than even Silicon Valley in California. London has the workforce which makes it a high-tech city mainly due to its liveability. The city has invested time and money in improving its public transport infrastructure, it has long been recognised for its diversity, green spaces and support for the arts. The fact that London is so much more than a great environment for start-ups, is why many in high-tech love this city so much and why start-ups in this English capital city receive more funding than in any other city in Europe. In 2018, it collectively received 5.4 billion euros in funding for its start-ups. One of London's most well known start-ups is, of course, Deliveroo.
New York, USA
Many observers believe this US city still has much growing to do in terms of just how high-tech it is, and that there is more progress to be made. But New York is attractive to high-tech startups, companies and their employees for many of the same reasons Berlin and London are. New York is considered a great place to live, in part due to its diversity, internationalism, and plethora of art and cultural spaces and events. This makes it attractive for everyone. The city has also done its part to invest in the education of its residents - in 2018 the city had 4,500 computer science majors graduate from college, and this number is rising all of the time. Not only does this provide more opportunities for New York residents, it also means the city has the educated population that high-tech companies are looking for. Both Amazon and Google have a strong presence in the city, making it in turn attractive for other tech giants. It is common for New York's high-tech achievements to be overshadowed by its traditional financial might, but the city has a lot to offer and plenty of room to grow moving forward.
Vonder prides itself on being situated in some of the world's leading high-tech centres. We understand what high-tech innovators and start-up owners need from their living and working spaces, and we aim to deliver quality co-living developments for innovative and creative leaders. Our co-living locations in London, Berlin, Warsaw and Dubai put our residents in the very heart of some of the world's favourite cities for high-tech.
