Activating Mongolia’s startup ecosystem through global dialogue

100+

engaged stakeholders

5

guiding frameworks

2

days of strategic dialogue

Challenge: Unlocking the next phase of innovation growth

With an emerging first wave of successful companies, Mongolia's startup and innovation ecosystem is still in its infancy. The ecosystem faces several challenges in its early stage:
Limited number of startups and lack of a strong founder pipeline

Minimal access to capital with only one operating venture capital firm
Weak cultural perception of entrepreneurship as a viable career path
Talent retention challenges, despite a youthful population and strong academic institutions
Lack of systemic support structures such as test beds, accelerators, and innovation-friendly policy

However, these challenges are counterbalanced by significant opportunities: a competitive technical talent pool, a proactive government, and a strong economic anchor in mining that presents opportunities for entrepreneurial solutions at scale.

Solution: A global dialogue to activate Mongolia’s innovation economy

Startup Genome, in collaboration with Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi, convened the first annual "Blue Sky Dialogue" — designed to spark cross-sectoral conversation and chart a roadmap for innovation-led digital economic transformation. The initiative brought together key stakeholders from government, academia, industry, the startup ecosystem, and international experts to:

Diagnose the current state of Mongolia’s innovation ecosystem
Share global best practices from successful ecosystems and their potential applications to local context
Identify gaps and opportunities for economic development
Build stakeholder consensus on strategic priorities for ecosystem growth

Highlights

10+

senior government officials

6+

stakeholder groups

3

case studies shared

Marc Penzel

Founder and President, Startup Genome

What stood out in Mongolia was not just the opportunity, but the ambition. It’s a country with digitally savvy talent, committed leadership, and a clear economic anchor. The Blue Sky Dialogue brought global and local leaders together to align on priorities and turn that potential into coordinated, long-term action.

Heartbeat of the Project:

Two-Day Workshop

Our team facilitated a two-day workshop that brought together key stakeholders from the Mongolian ecosystem and global experts to unlock opportunities and explore pathways for accelerated growth.

Strategic Ecosystem Briefing

Prepared a detailed strategic briefing document for a high-level delegation focusing on broad ecosystem development principles aligned with Mongolia's position.

Two-Day In-Person Workshop

Coordinated a two-day workshop focused on sharing knowledge between key stakeholders and building consensus on the key next steps.

Best Practice Recommendations

Produced a White Paper developed from the key takeaways of the workshop along with policy recommendations and next steps for the ecosystem, based on data-driven insights. Delivered tactical guidance and roadmap actions tailored for Mongolia’s maturity and ecosystem assets.

Workshop outcomes:

Examples of uncovered insights

Consensus on sector specialization

Mining emerged as a clear candidate for ecosystem specialization. Challenges faced in the mining industry offer clear opportunities for startups to build scalable solutions that can enable Mongolia to build an edge in Deep Tech and industrial innovation.

Gradual but strategic ecosystem activation

Stakeholders aligned on the importance of steadily fostering entrepreneurship, with ambitious targets to grow the number of startups by 2030. This includes driving cultural shifts to normalize entrepreneurship as a career path and increasing public engagement with innovation’s societal value.

Ecosystem coordination mechanism

Building on the momentum of the Blue Sky Dialogue, sustained and coordinated action will be essential to realize the full potential of Mongolia’s innovation ecosystem. To support this, Startup Genome emphasized the importance of establishing a Steering Committee to provide strategic direction and a Keystone Team to drive implementation — ensuring alignment, accountability, and steady progress going forward.

White paper for Strategic Guidance

To transform the ambitions surfaced during the Blue Sky Dialogue into practical next steps, Startup Genome developed a White Paper, summarizing key insights and proposing clear initiatives across five strategic priorities. According to Startup Genome’s Ecosystem Scenario Modelling, Mongolia could grow from under 200 startups today to 600 within five years — raising its Ecosystem Value from 0.2% to 0.7% of GDP. This growth would contribute ~$110 million USD and create up to 25,000 highly-skilled jobs.

Economic growth supported by ecosystem development

By achieving an Ecosystem Value-to-GDP (EV/GDP) ratio of 8% — aligning with the average level seen in G20 economies — Mongolia’s startup ecosystem could grow its current EV from $31 million to approximately $1.6 billion.

Key takeaways

Strong talent, political support, and industrial demand can drive innovation

Mongolia’s deep technical talent, proactive political leadership, and innovation-ready mining sector form a rare combination of assets. During the workshop, we aligned stakeholders around these strengths, exploring how each actor - from government to corporations - can contribute to turning potential into action.

Mindsets matter: culture and risk perception are the next frontiers

Changing how society views entrepreneurship is critical. Drawing from global examples where cultural transformation supported startup acceleration, we showed how normalizing risk, celebrating founders, and engaging youth are critical steps in shifting perception, providing actionable examples for stakeholders to implement right away.

Turning alignment into sustained action

By bringing together voices from across the ecosystem, the Blue Sky Dialogue catalyzed a new level of alignment and ambition. Through the workshop and the resulting White Paper, it created a launchpad for Mongolia’s innovation ecosystem to move from conversation to coordinated action. This foundation now enables the ecosystem to focus on execution and impact — turning shared vision into tangible progress.

Curious how these insights could apply to your ecosystem?

Every success starts with a deep understanding of local context and a commitment to measurable outcomes. Let’s explore how we can collaborate on a similar project.