Perhaps the least surprising fact is that the United States is still the nation that produces the highest valued startups. App based taxi service Uber for example is valued at tens of billions. The US has also housed 4.8 million businesses in the past year. The most surprising fact however is that they are not even in the top ten when it comes to being the most entrepreneurial. This measure is determined by how many startups per person there are. The country that tops this list is Uganda, with other emerging economies like Cameroon, Brazil and Thailand not far behind.
So while not everyone in the US is starting new businesses, wealth created by the capitalist experiment is helping to create the most innovative and financially successful businesses today. Uber is currently valued at $51 billion. Accommodation marketplace Airbnb is valued at $25.5 billion. And mobile app Snapchat is worth $16 billion. The only other country significantly represented on the list is China, whose electronics firm Xiaomi is valued at $46 billion. Otherwise it is mainly a US top ten. The US also dominates the list of startups that have just reached the billion dollar "unicorn" status, with healthcare firm Stemcentrx being valued $3 billion in October, cyber security company Okta valued at $1.2 billion, and internet software developer Apttus just breaking £1 billion.
Germany's online food marketplace HelloFresh and France's ridesharing site BlaBlaCar, also make the list at $2.9 billion and $1.6 billion respectively. For more interesting facts about startups from around the world, their markets, and the investors behind them, check out the following infographic: coupofy
