Last week I had the opportunity to visit six ecosystems in the United States. These included Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, Stamford, Boston and Atlanta. The one thing that really impressed me was the diversity in the various startups, funders, policymakers and even support organisations that were present in these engagements. Their various models on how they support startups are also evident from the diversity, which one believes has been leveraged by the inclusive nature of these ecosystems. Innovation ecosystems have been known to drive digitalization, transformation and value creation in the various areas that they operate.

So what makes top ecosystems in the world? According the 2023 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, which is published annually by GEN and Startup Genome, it is basically their performance (exits, ecosystem value and startup success), availability of funding for startups, its connectedness, market reach, knowledge and talent/experience. The North American ecosystem has remained the leader in the startup ecosystem because of these metrics. Their ability to drive innovation, development and commercialization of various products and services sets them apart from many other ecosystems. Their multi-stakeholder ‘build and back’ approach makes it easier for startups to start and scale and, more especially, believe that they are backed by the best in the world.

The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) scores countries annually on how innovative their economies are with the Global Innovation Index. The metrics used to score countries include research and development spend, general market strength, patent systems and output and local labour capital. Startup ecosystems such as Boston, Stamford and New York are evidently investing heavily in these areas and have capacitated their ecosystems with the skills needed to ensure that it’s easier for startups to start and scale.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Mayor Caroline Simmons from Stamford during my visit to the US and she shared how they are working hard to now develop what they call the Innovation Corridor in Stamford, where they are also hoping to launch a Fintech fund to support local startups in Stamford, while working with their local University of Connecticut. Stamford is the economic engine of the state of Connecticut. About 3% of Fortune 500 companies reside there.

The reality is that more and more startups and large corporates are looking at ecosystems that are diverse, inclusive, with the right talent, market reach and strength to be able to service their customers and ensure success for their business. Many of the ecosystems that I visited evidently showed these metrics and values.

As we work on building innovative ecosystems in Africa, we should figure out how to ensure that we keep our startups on the continent? And the answer is quite simple. We build innovative ecosystems that have all the right metrics to make them thrive. The Stamford/Connecticut and Boston ecosystems clearly showed this and we can learn a great deal from them.

Kizito Okechukwu is the Executive Head of 22 On Sloane and co-Chair of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) Africa.