Kaunas Startup Ecosystem acknowledged in international Rankings

For quite some time Kaunas has been in the spotlight for various analysts ranking startup ecosystems. This year Kaunas reached its so far highest position — 112th globally amongst 1000 other cities and destinations. In the latest rankings published by an international research centre StartupBlink Global Kaunas stands out as a city with favorable business environment for new businesses.

Climbing up the rankings is becoming a tendency for Kaunas
Kaunas has climbed 2 positions since 2019 and by as much as 352 positions since the rankings were first published in 2018.

“This acknowledgment in the rankings since 2018 and continuous growth to the top 100 cities yet again proves the potential of Kaunas startup ecosystem and with a number of highly ambitious and fast growing startups it is extremely likely that we will be able to surprise the international startup arena with our disruptive and technology-intensive ideas” says Simonas Kairys, advisor to the Mayor at Kaunas City, who was the mastermind behind the Kaunas Startups program back in 2015.

This achievement is a sign that Kaunas has an increasing number of opportunities and its startup communities are growing. Eli David, the head of StartupBlink names cooperation as one of the main pillars of any successful ecosystem and sends a hopeful message for founders dealing with COVID-19 “To our fellow startup founders, we can only tell you that a crisis provides you with the biggest opportunity to find your unique place in a new reality” says E. David.

Lithuania ranks amongst top nations
2020 rankings can be regarded as a successful year for the country as a whole — Lithuania takes 15th place out of 100 countries evaluated. The country climbed 3 positions since 2019. The organizers call the Baltic region, together with neighboring Latvia and Estonia as a one having tremendous potential for growth.

The reasons for successful startup ecosystem in the Baltic region are: relatively low living costs, number of highly skilled specialists, governmental support for any new startups, flexible regulatory environment as well as the amount of digital services offered. These reasons amongst others help to attract new startups and investments into the region.

USA Leads the Global Rankings
The United States of America took the first place globally and it should not come as a surprise. The UK was a runner-up in 2020 for its increasing interest in innovations, 3rd place was given to Israel, while Canada finished 4th. The above mentioned countries are constantly leading global startup rankings during the last decade.

However, the UK is not the only country representing Europe in the list. Germany holds the 5th, while the Netherlands — the 6th place respectively. Switzerland, Spain and Sweden took 8-10th places respectively.
In terms of city-wide ecosystems, the US cities are at the top: San Francisco and New York take the first two places respectively, Boston and Los Angeles took 4th and 5th. London is the only city to intervene this US cluster by being ranked 3rd.

Business Environment as a Key for Success
The rankings were compiled by analyzing 3 factors. First, the number of startup-related institutions working in respective region; second — the quality of existing startups — number of co-working spaces, events and inquiries; third — business environment and the context in general.

StartupBlink Global is a comprehensive map of global startup ecosystem and research center for startup ecosystems. The Center publishes its report on global changes in particular countries and cities annually.

More info about StartupBlink’s Global Startup Map here.

Info and photo by Business Department of Kaunas City Agency Kaunas IN.