Seoul announced it secured 8th place in the “Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2025,” released by U.S.-based Startup Genome on June 12 (Paris time), evaluating 300 cities worldwide.

The “Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2025” ranks startup ecosystems based on performance from July 2022 to December 2024 across 100 countries and 300 cities, assessing six criteria: Knowledge Accumulation, Funding, Ecosystem Activity, Market Reach, Creative Experience & Talent Development, and AI-Centric Transition.

Seoul first entered the global top 10 startup cities in 2022 but slipped to 12th in 2023 due to a contracted domestic investment market amid global challenges like high inflation, high interest rates, and high exchange rates. It rebounded to 9th in 2024 and achieved its highest-ever ranking this year, proving the growing competitiveness of its startup ecosystem. Notably, Seoul outranked Asian startup hubs Singapore (9th) and Tokyo (11th), amplifying the significance of this achievement.

The global top 10 startup ecosystems are led by Silicon Valley (U.S.), followed by New York (U.S.), London (U.K.), Tel Aviv (Israel), Boston (U.S.) and Beijing (China) tied for 5th, and Los Angeles (U.S.) in 7th.

A detailed look at the report reveals Seoul’s strong performance, scoring 9 or higher out of 10 in five of six categories: Knowledge Accumulation (10), Funding (10), Ecosystem Activity (9), Market Reach (9), and Creative Experience & Talent Development (9). In the newly introduced AI-Centric Transition category, Seoul excelled in AI applications but scored 3 due to fewer startups focusing on AI technology itself, like Open AI.

Seoul’s perfect scores in Knowledge Accumulation (world’s 1st) and Funding (world’s 5th, Asia’s 1st) were recognized as globally competitive. The city attributes these high marks to aggressive investments in biotech, AI, and creative industries through Seoul’s R&D programs and proprietary funds.

Since 2005, Seoul’s R&D program has invested USD 647 million (KRW 906 billion) over 19 years, supporting 4,018 research and technology development projects. Analysis of 884 projects over the past five years shows cumulative corporate revenue of USD 457 million (KRW 639.6 billion) and 5,957 jobs created. In 2025, USD 29 million (KRW 41 billion) will support technology development, enterprise growth, and commercialization in six high-growth industries: AI, biotech, quantum technology, robotics, fintech, and creative industries.

From 2019 to 2022, Seoul raised USD 2571 million (KRW 3600 billion) through the “Future Innovation Growth Fund,” investing in 1,538 companies. Since 2023, the “Seoul Vision 2030 Fund” raised USD 1857 million (KRW 2600 billion) by May 2025, aiming for USD 3571 million (KRW 5000 billion) by 2026 to invigorate the investment market through aggressive investments in promising firms.

Startup Genome highlighted that successful scale-up startups’ large-scale exits significantly boosted Seoul’s Market Reach score (from 1 in 2023 to 7 in 2024 and 9 in 2025), driving its ranking rise. While exits in the top 40 global ecosystems fell 31%, Seoul’s grew 4%.

Seoul has expanded industry-specific infrastructure for sustainable startup ecosystem growth, including biotech and quantum (Hongneung), AI (Yangjae), fintech (Yeouido), robotics (Suseo), and creative industries (Sangam). The report identified AI & Big Data Analytics, Life Sciences, and Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics as Seoul’s strongest startup sectors.

The city operates startup hubs to support technologically competitive startups, fostering new ventures in future-leading industries through workspace provision, education, and mentoring programs.

Yongtae Joo, Director of Seoul’s Economic Policy Office, stated, “Despite global economic downturns and investment contraction, Seoul surpassed its record 9th ranking from last year within just one year, a significant milestone given that startup indices reflect a city’s vitality and future potential. Aiming to become a global top 5 startup city by 2030 and nurture 50 unicorn companies, we will intensively support innovative tech startups in AI, biotech, robotics, quantum, and fintech, while strengthening domestic and international ecosystem collaborations to ensure relentless growth.”