Canadian Students Found the Most Startups in the World
A new study has been released that details the state of startups and innovation around the world.
“A portrait of innovative startups across countries” released by OECD Science looks at how new startups are entering the market. There is some interesting data not only surrounding North America but the rest of the globe as well. The findings show that there is a distinct difference through different countries when it comes to the professional and educational backgrounds of startup founders, especially when it comes to serial entrepreneurs.
In addition, the study also finds that IP assets and the presence of an investor in the founding team is strongly associated with the success of a startup. Finally, female founders are less likely to receive funding compared to male counterparts, but that was unfortunately already known as female founders only received two percent of VC dollars in 2017.
One of the most impressive stats in the report shows that Canada is first in the world when it comes to student-led startups, as 13.6 per cent of founders started a company within four years of beginning a B.Sc. program. Check the list below for the others on the list, including Brazil coming in at second with 12.54 per cent and Australia in third at 10.64 per cent.
One of the reasons Canada’s economy is suitable for young founders to begin companies in is due to the rich incubator and accelerator system. Organizations like the DMZ, MaRS and Communitech provide resources for students to access and turn into a real startup.
When it comes to founders having previous academic or entrepreneurial experience, Canada falls into the middle of the list, which is a good indicator that there is a mix of veteran and first-time startup founders in the country.
The study found that Canada had the fourth largest amount of startups founded during the 2001-2016 period that were still operating in 2016, trailing the U.S. who came in at first, then the U.K and India at second and third. Across the OECD countries, most startups come in the retail sector, followed by internet services and advertising.
Canada also saw the most IPOs and acquisitions behind the U.S. and U.K. from 2007 to 2016. Canada actually beat out the U.K. in terms of total IPOs, as the incredibly positive and growth-friendly TSX and TSXV ecosystem allows for an easy route to public equity.
