Contents

Acknowledgements

The Global Startup Ecosystem Report is the result of a tremendous collective effort from both our dedicated project team and a broad network of external collaborators. Many partners have committed substantial resources to bring this initiative to life. We are especially grateful to the numerous advisors, founders, investors, and industry leaders who generously shared their expertise, networks, and time in support of our mission — to advance their local ecosystems and the global startup landscape. Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) extend our heartfelt thanks to all who played a role in making this report a reality.

Startup Genome Authors

  • JF Gauthier, Chief Executive Officer
  • Marc Penzel, President
  • Stephan Kuester, Managing Partner
  • Dr. Christopher Haley, Head of Research
  • Parshant Sharma, Director of Data Science
  • Kelly Wolfgang, Content Manager
  • Forrest Wright, Research Assessment Lead
  • Pranav Arya, Sr. Director, Ecosystem Strategy

External Authors

  • Jessica Stillman
  • Anthony Griffin

Project Team

Startup Genome

  • JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO
  • Marc Penzel, Founder & President
  • Stephan Kuester, Managing Partner
  • Tricia (Whitlock) Naik, Chief Operating Officer
  • Kelly Wolfgang, Content Manager
  • Forrest Wright, Research Assessment Lead
  • Dr. Christopher Haley, Head of Research
  • Pranav Arya, Sr. Director, Ecosystem Strategy
  • Parshant Sharma, Director of Data Science
  • Sama Siddiqui, Director of Member Relations
  • Anna Chadwell, Key Account Manager
  • Neha Thapliyal, Operations Lead, Client Relations
  • Franzis Walther, Manager, Operations & Communications
  • Neha Nawathe, Operations Specialist
  • Shreesh Dubey, Senior Operations Manager 
  • Ananya Sharma, Operations and HR Lead
  • Marina Krizman, Director of Business Development
  • Fernando Nahat Jardim, Business Development Manager
  • Pavan Kumar, Manager of Sales Operations & CRM Administrator
  • Rahul Kumar, Senior Data Scientist
  • Aman Bansal, Data Scientist
  • Naajid Sarosh, Data Engineer
  • Shekhar Parihar, Process Lead, Lead Generation & CRM Support
  • Tanishq Malik, Senior Business Analyst
  • Parth Arora, Business Analyst
  • Shivansh Madaan, Business Analyst
  • Samantha Evans, Managing Director, MENA
  • Nancy Agrawal, Finance Manager
  • Ana Lucia Osorio, Executive Assistant to the CEO
  • Bryan Steve Reyes, Executive Assistant
  • Manu Sinha, Data Science Intern
  • Sara Inglês, Designer
  • afteryou, Website Development

 

Global Entrepreneurship Network

  • Jonathan Ortmans, President
  • Mark Marich, Executive Vice President
  • Matt Smith, Vice President
  • Kathryn Forrest, Director for Communications
  • Tom Hancock, Manager for Research

Image Credits

  • This year's cover features São Paulo. São Paulo is the highest ranking ecosystem in Latin America and the only ecosystem from that region in the GSER 2025's Global Top 40. It has both the highest Ecosystem Value and highest amount of early-stage funding in Latin America. Startup Genome proudly opened its first LATAM office in São Paulo in 2025.
  • All images taken from Freepik.

References

  • To request a list of references, please contact Startup Genome Content Manager Kelly Wolfgang at [email protected].

 

Key Author Bios
Startup Genome


JF Gauthier [LinkedIn]

A seasoned Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, JF is the world-leading voice in innovation ecosystem development, having advised more than 100 governments in 60 countries. He has founded five businesses and led others across two continents and three sectors (Tech, Life Sciences, and Cleantech). He is an angel investor and previously worked in corporate innovation, advising several of the world's largest tech companies.

Marc Penzel [LinkedIn]

Marc is a high-growth entrepreneur and recognized expert in innovation ecosystem development. He has advised government leaders, Fortune 500 executives, and research organizations across all continents, helping shape innovation policies and drive growth.

Marc’s expertise has earned him accolades such as the GEN Research Champion Award and appointments like Expert in Entrepreneurship, IT, and the Future of Economic Progress at the World Economic Forum, where he is also a regular guest writer. He is a sought-after speaker at global tech and policy conferences and has been recognized with the prestigious U.S. visa for individuals with extraordinary ability. Previously, Marc worked for Silicon Valley tech startups, as well as KPMG, PwC, and Bayer’s strategy consulting firm. He is currently pursuing an Executive MBA at the University of Oxford.

Stephan Kuester [LinkedIn]

Stephan works with clients in government and private industry consortia all around the world, advising on the creation and acceleration of tech and innovation clusters. Prior to his role at Startup Genome, Stephan headed the International Consulting practice at U.K. ecosystem agency Tech Nation (fka Tech City UK) in London and served as Managing Director of digitalswitzerland in Zurich.

Previous to his work in the digital ecosystems space, Stephan worked as an executive director for professional services firms Arthur Andersen and EY (Ernst & Young). Stephan holds an MSc in Economics and studied at the University of Bonn, Germany and the London School of Economics.

Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN)
Jonathan Ortmans [LinkedIn]

Jonathan Ortmans is the founder and president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), a Washington, D.C.-based organization operating programs and chapters in 200 nations to support entrepreneurs and foster healthier entrepreneurial ecosystems. Raised in the United Kingdom, Ortmans trained as an economist, worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, and served as the CEO of a health care and trade policy think tank. His career has also included two successful startup exits. Ortmans built GEN through its cornerstone initiative, Global Entrepreneurship Week where he assembled a broad multi-disciplinary coalition of partners and communities in 200 countries that now serve as the backbone of GEN operations around the world, including entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, researchers, and entrepreneurial support organizations. Ortmans oversees GEN’s grantmaking and has developed GEN operations in entrepreneurship research and public policy, ecosystem building, and all of its programs directly supporting entrepreneurs and investors such as the Entrepreneurship World Cup, GEN Academies, Startup Huddle, GEN Founders and GEN Invest. Ortmans also chairs the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) and serves on the boards of dozens of GEN affiliates and entrepreneurial support organizations around the world.

About Our Global Partners

 

  • Bella Private Marketsis a consulting and advisory firm focused exclusively on providing solutions to the challenges facing the private capital industry. Led by Dr. Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School, Bella works closely with the senior management of – among others – private equity groups, venture capital firms, and institutional investors on complex, customized projects. Our approach combines a rigorous academic perspective with real world industry expertise to provide our clients with actionable insights to improve performance and optimize operations.
  • Crunchbase  is a predictive solution that provides intelligence on private companies, powered by the unique combination of live private company data, AI, and market activity from over 80 million users. We predict private market movements that matter to help investors, dealmakers, and analysts make the right decisions.
  • Dealroom.co is a global provider of data and intelligence on startups and tech ecosystems. Founded in Amsterdam in 2013, we now work with many of the world's most prominent investors, entrepreneurs and government organizations to provide transparency, analysis and insights on venture capital activity. Our mission is to accelerate entrepreneurship & innovation through data for governments, corporates and VCs, founders.

Startup Genome Network

Members

Startup Genome provides its members with innovation policy advice and exclusive research. Members also gain access to a global network of policymakers, government representatives, and other leaders to further support and accelerate the growth of innovation ecosystems.

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