the surprising startup hub that’s second only to silicon valley
The most exciting startup scene you have never heard of isn’t in Seattle or London—it’s in Scandinavia.
The Nordic countries, particularly Sweden, have the highest percentage of unicorns per capita in the world, and have developed more successful brand-name billion-dollar startups--Spotify, Skype, and Klarna to name a few--than any other region besides Silicon Valley and Beijing, which has 17 in a metropolitan population of more than 20 million people in a greater provincial area of more than 100 million.
After speaking to several leaders in the Nordic region’s startup ecosystem, I’ve found clear reasons for its success.
DEFINING THE MEANING OF CLUSTER
Startup ecosystems invariably thrive in strong clusters. The Valley, which encompasses San Francisco, Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose, and more talented engineers per capita than anywhere on earth, is of course…