These are the best countries in the world for venture capitalists to invest in business
Our new Global VC Investment Index has discovered the best countries in the world for venture capitalists to invest in business.
We analysed crucial factors including number of startups; skill of population; entrepreneurial spirit; technological readiness; economic growth; economic and social stability, and investment environment to reveal which countries are best set to be producing businesses worth investing in.
Coming out in the top spot is Sweden, which scored high across all factors examined, meaning the country is a location venture capitalists should be keeping a keen eye on for investment-worthy businesses.
The Nordic country is one of the top 20 countries in the world for number of top startups, it is within the top 10 countries worldwide for skilled population and has been ranked within the 10 most economically, politically and socially stable countries. All of which add up to making the country home to brilliant investment opportunities for venture capitalists.
Many other Nordic countries dominated the top of the index too with Finland, Denmark and Norway also ranking within the top 10.
Read on below for the full results and research.
Results
Sweden ranked as the top country for venture capitalists to invest in, scoring well across the seven metrics studied and gaining a total index score of 33 out of a possible 35. As well as ranking with the top 10 for skills and stability and within the top 20 for number of top startups, Sweden was also named the third most technologically ready country. While like many European countries Sweden’s economic growth forecast for 2020 was at a negative, it was a smaller decline than many other countries. In terms of investment environment, which looked at how secure and accessible investments are in each country, Sweden again ranked within the top 10 worldwide.
Following Sweden in second place is Singapore, with a GVCII score of 32. The Asian country actually ranked higher than Sweden for number of top startups, investment environment and economic growth. However, it fell slightly below the top spot based on skill of population, entrepreneurial spirit, tech readiness, and economic, political and social stability. While it ranked lower than Sweden for these elements it was still one of the top scoring countries across the board which is what earned this thriving island country second place.
It was close within the top five with Switzerland, Finland and Denmark all hot on Singapore’s heels for the second place spot, also scoring a total GVCII score of 32. The higher number of successful startups already hailing from Singapore is what allowed it to clinch the second place spot ahead of the other three countries.
Notably however, Switzerland ranked as the country with the most skilled population, while Finland came top for stability – making all of these top five countries excellent locations for venture capitalists to scour for investment opportunities.
Methodology
To compile the Global VC Investment Index we examined the below seven factors, using the sources outlined below to identify which countries were best set up to produce successful businesses and provide a safe and profitable investment opportunity:
- Number of Startups: https://www.startupranking.com/countries
- Skills of Workforce: http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2019/competitiveness-rankings/#series=GCI4.B.06
- Entrepreneurial Spirit: http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2019/competitiveness-rankings/#series=GCI4.D.11.02
- Tech Readiness: http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2019/competitiveness-rankings/#series=GCI4.A.03
- Economic Growth: https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/gdp_growth_outlook_imf/
- Threat to Economic, Social & Political Stability: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Fragile_States_Index
- Investment Environment: https://www.prosperity.com/rankings
Using the raw data from the above sources, we then scored each country out of five for each of the seven metrics. We then totalled the score across the seven metrics together to get the final GVCII score for each country.
We ranked the countries by this final score. Where there was a draw in the total score we used the number of startups as the ranking factor.
Countries with limited data available were not included in the analysis.
Full dataset available upon request.
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