Vancouver ranked as top startup ecosystem in Canada and 15th best in world

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      A new report has moved Vancouver up in its world rankings as a place to start a tech business.

      Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network collaborated on the Global Startup Ecosystem Report, which put B.C.'s largest city in 15th spot.

      Vancouver is up three places from last year. It's also ahead of the 16th ranked Toronto-Waterloo corridor.

      The authors mention Vancouver's "highest concentration of visual affects and animation studios, two of the top six video game franchises, and its ranking as one of the world's top 20 Global Financial Centers".

      In addition, they point out that Vancouver has 800 to 1,100 "startups and shining success stories".

      "In the early days Slack’s founder estimated the market for the software to be $100 million, which they exceeded in just three years—and have now become the fastest growing business software of all time," the report states. "Broadband.tv is now the third largest video streaming site in the world after Facebook and Google, while dating app Plenty of Fish sold to Match. com for $575 million."

      It also notes that Bit Stew Systems was the "largest exit" in Canada last year. General Electric paid US$153 million for the company, which provides monitoring systems collected via sensors to transportation, energy, and aircraft companies.

      Meanwhile, a Vancouver cloud-based payment-system company, TIO Networks, is on the verge of being rolled into PayPal in a $304-million deal.

      The report acknowledges that Vancouver has the fewest startups of any city in its Top 20 list.

      However, its adds that the city's valuations of startups are "highly competitive".

      In the report, Vancouver Economic Commission CEO Ian MacKay links the city's success to diverse and entrepreneurial talent, its location as a gateway to Asia and the West Coast, and an ecosystem that encourages interconnectivity and collaboration.

      "As our city continues to attract talent and capital, we feel incredibly optimistic for our future,” McKay said.

      Not surprisingly, California's Silicon Valley ranked first. Rounding out the Top 10 are New York, London, Beijing, Boston, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

      The next four cities ahead of Vancouver are Paris (11th), Singapore (12th), Austin (13th), and Stockholm (14th). Sydney was the top Australian entry at 17th, and Bangalore ranked first among Indian cities, coming 20th worldwide.

      The Canadian cities of Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City were included on a list of "regional clusters" in the Americas.

      "Ecosystems develop along a lifecycle, and in each phase of the lifecycle ecosystems have different strengths and weaknesses," the report states. "Scarce resources must be focused on the right actions at the right time for maximum impact in increasing ecosystem performance."

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