Asia
China remains the dominant force in Asia, despite broader economic headwinds. China saw the fastest growth in “startup output” globally in 2025 (approx. 54.8% YoY), largely driven by state-backed initiatives in semiconductors and AI. In India, IT Services & Software: Remains the largest employer, providing over 204,000 direct jobs. Singapore remains the “magnetic pole” for capital, securing 92% of the region’s funding in the first half of 2025. The fastest-growing sector in Southeast Asia, AI and Saas, saw a 217% growth in AI-native startups in 2025 as businesses seek GenAI ROI.
Europe
Europe currently boasts 40,000 funded tech companies (a significant rise from 13,000 in 2016), with a total ecosystem value of roughly $4 trillion. The UK remains the overall leader in 2025. Artificial Intelligence remains the fastest-growing vertical. AI-related deals reached €23.5 billion, accounting for 35.5% of all European investment—up from 19.5% in 2020.
North America
North America’s ecosystem is dominated by the U.S., but Canada and Mexico showed significant strategic shifts in 2025. In 2025, Artificial Intelligence moved from being a “hot sector” to a baseline requirement. In the U.S. specifically, AI startups captured a staggering 64% of all venture capital dollars. A breakout year for nuclear and fusion. Startups like X-Energy and Helion led a surge in “hard tech” investment to power AI data centers.
Africa
Fintech Remains the core engine, securing $1.49 billion (approx. 45% of total equity). Focus shifted to B2B credit infrastructure and cross-border payments. Increased participation from Japan and Gulf (GCC) investors, helping to fill the gap left by retreating Western venture firms.
South America
In 2025, the South American startup ecosystem reached a point of stabilization and maturity. Unlike the “funding frenzy” of 2021, the current landscape is defined by a high survival rate and a massive shift toward Deep Tech and AI-driven Fintech. Brazil remains the undisputed heavyweight, though the “Spanish-speaking corridor” (Colombia, Chile, and Argentina) is growing faster in terms of new entity registration. Fintech is still the largest sector, with ~3,000 active companies across Latin America. Brazil hosts over 1,700 of these, driven by the success of the Pix instant payment system. In São Paulo alone, 55% of all new ventures in 2025 are classified as Deep Tech (AI, Biotech, or Advanced Materials).
A critical data point for 2025: despite the high startup count, South America faces a deficit of 2.3 million tech workers. This has led to a surge in EdTech startups specifically designed to bridge the coding and data science gap.
Australia
In 2025, the Australian startup ecosystem demonstrated remarkable maturity, characterized by high capital efficiency and a significant shift toward deep tech and AI. Australia currently ranks #12 globally in the startup ecosystem index and remains the clear leader in the Oceania region. In 2025, software remains the most common category, but the most significant movement is in AI-Native transitions across all sectors.
Startup Density by Continent
The U.S. continues to dominate the global landscape, generating 87% of all startup activity worldwide, as they remain the world’s most creative economy. With Asia being the second largest contributor given the number of startups started by Chinese companies. We also see how Europe’s startup economy is significantly smaller than the US and Asian startup economy despite it being the most developed continent.
By 2025, a clear pattern emerged: the Global North builds the intelligence (the models), while the Global South builds the implementations (the agents that actually do the work in local economies). More needs to be done in ensuring AI workers rights in Africa.
AI Density
North America has the highest density of AI startups at 64% of their economy. With Europe trailing behind at 36%. AI concentration in Asia is roughly about 28%, suggesting that a huge proportion of its economy is still directed towards other verticals such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Source: Google Gemini