Sydney has maintained its position as the top startup ecosystem in the Southern Hemisphere and clocked an estimated value of $55 billion in new rankings, but couldn’t buck the global trend of a post-pandemic funding crunch.
The valuation – calculated on the sum of all estimated startup values and exits between 2022 and 2024 – has Sydney at more than triple the value of Australia’s next best ecosystem Melbourne and more than ten times third place Brisbane.
Powerhouses Silicon Valley, New York City, London and Tel Aviv remain unchanged as the top cities respectively for startup ecosystems.
The big movers were Chinese cities Shenzhen and Hangzhou – the home of DeepSeek – which are both part of a wave of Chinese ecosystems rising in global rankings.
The rankings from Startup Genome released this week place Sydney at 25th in the world, with the $55 billion value considered just average globally and Sydney scoring relatively poorly on artificial intelligence and patent activity.
But Sydney is a genuine world leader on the number of STEM graduates it produces and the access and quality of life sciences education and research, according to the analysis.
The city’s emerging quantum and climate tech startups are also recognised as strengths, while quality of life, high wages and seven established unicorns also make Sydney an attractive place to launch a startup.
Melbourne made headway on closing its valuation gap with Sydney – up to $18 billion — and also maintained its global ranking at 32nd.
But Melbourne’s ecosystem value was still relatively low and it also suffered from less access to early-stage funding and fewer investors. Like Sydney, Melbourne’s access to STEM graduates and life sciences sector was among the world’s best.
Brisbane was placed in the lower tier as one of 100 emerging ecosystems, ranking in the 31-40 block.
Globally, the startup ecosystems are experiencing a downturn from the boom investment times around the COVID-19 pandemic, with far fewer and smaller exits. Ecosystem values were down 31 per cent on aggregate.
The report authors expect better results this year and for AI investments to start translating into stronger outcomes.
“The global startup landscape is undergoing a profound shift. As Ecosystem Value declines and AI accelerates its dominance, traditional approaches are no longer enough,” the report said.
“Policy-led ecosystems like Seoul, Singapore, and Tel Aviv show that strategic intervention can drive outsized gains. Now, a new generation of entrepreneurial AI policies is urgently needed. Those who act swiftly will lead the next era of innovation — those who don’t risk being left behind.”
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