Startup Universal: Uncovering and Broadcasting Technology Opportunities Around the World

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of Startup Universal, a free content platform covering technology startups and opportunities globally with a focus on emerging startup ecosystems — ecosystems that have the potential for scalable growth, but that are currently under-covered and underserved. Our mission is to uncover and broadcast technology opportunities around the world.

The platform includes in-depth Country Guides featuring ecosystem overviews, insights from ecosystem leaders, local industry & company info, funding & hiring activity, and available community resources. It also includes locally sourced news and expert commentary covering the latest developments, trends, and things to look out for in each country’s startup ecosystem.

Startup Universal serves as an information source for ecosystem builders, both locals and foreigners, looking to:

• Start tech startups (Entrepreneurs)
• Fund tech startups (Investors)
• Join tech startups (Talent)
• Cover tech startups (Journalists)

The Story

Startup Universal was born out of a journey around the world. In 2017, I embarked on a year-long trip traveling the world with my wife Zoe. While traveling through Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America, I began a passion project to meet with entrepreneurs and technology startups in each of the countries I visited, and wrote about my experiences as a contributing writer for Forbes. This journey made me appreciate the incredible talent and technology around the world, but also the lack of accessible, quality content covering technology startups in many countries, especially those with emerging and developing startup ecosystems. That’s why I decided to create a platform: Startup Universal.

Over the past year, our team has worked with ecosystem leaders around the world — including founders, investors, and thought leaders — identifying the types of information that would be most valuable to them and capturing their insights. We then translated this information into a digestible and actionable format, culminating in the launch of our pilot, featuring Country Guides for 23 national startup ecosystems across 5 continents, and newsfeeds covering over 100 countries. We’re continuing to add countries to the platform and understand how best to serve the members of each ecosystem.

The Need

The platform addresses the lack of understanding and recognition among international entrepreneurs, investors, and tech community members of the accomplishments (what has already been achieved) and opportunities (the potential for future growth) in emerging startup ecosystems.

Existing global tech news sites and ecosystem maps typically overlook ecosystems outside of the Western world, and while there are localized tech news sites covering the ‘other’ countries, these sites often lack the resources and reach to showcase their ecosystem internationally. This situation perpetuates the uneven globalization of startups and venture capital. According to data published by the Center for American Entrepreneurship, “just 24 cities account for three-quarters of global venture capital investment, despite housing just four percent of the world’s population.”

Ecosystems in the ‘rest’ of the world, lacking the capital and experience found in more mature markets, must attract these assets from other countries in order to grow. These developing ecosystems depend on the transfer of information to showcase them. On the flipside, the world’s most mature ecosystems have become oversaturated, leading to the overvaluation of startups and challenging investor returns. As a result, entrepreneurs and investors in these mature markets are more actively exploring opportunities abroad. By shining a light on what’s happening around the world — specifically in ecosystems that are growing, but do not yet have a presence on the global stage — we aim to facilitate increased communication between tech communities and more effectively realize global opportunities.

The Approach

Startup Universal is a platform in the truest sense of the word: a stage for those with a story to tell. It provides an entry point into startup ecosystems, and presents foundational rather than exhaustive information about those ecosystems. The platform is unique not only in terms of the countries it focuses on (the where), but also in terms of the way it generates content (the how):

The Where: As mentioned above, Startup Universal focuses primarily on ecosystems where it can provide significant value: emerging ecosystems in underserved markets with fewer existing resources and less coverage. The pilot site includes insights and news covering countries across Asia, Latin America, Africa, and parts of Europe. Each pilot country was selected based on its location, current traction, and potential for scalable growth.

In addition to the emerging ecosystems, the platform covers a selection of more mature ecosystems such as China, Singapore, Sweden, and Spain. These ecosystems are included because of their roles as feeders for other ecosystems, whether through capital or talent. For instance, China and Singapore serve as anchor ecosystems for Southeast Asia; Sweden’s ecosystem is connected to much of Northern Europe; and Spain’s ecosystem is connected to the Latin American markets, serving as a bridge between Europe and Latin America.

The How: Startup Universal aims to showcase the full extent of the world’s tech talent and opportunities through several phases:

• Phase 1: Cover (develop, aggregate, and package content for underserved startup ecosystems)
• Phase 2: Curate (build out a network of local partners and contributors to better qualify news and opportunities)
• Phase 3: Connect (facilitate connections between interested parties to pursue opportunities)

For each country, we collaborate with local leaders and use a mix of branded and user-generated content. We enlist the help of a country “Guest Editor” — a well-known local investor/founder/thought leader with deep experience and knowledge to offer their insights and perspectives. Additionally, we source content from contributors/publishers on the ground in the countries they’re writing about, and offer anyone involved in the tech community the ability to submit content for consideration. This crowdsourced “wiki” model ensures the content is current and dynamic.

With this approach in mind, as we continue to build out the platform, we’re always looking for passionate tech community members to get involved and help spread the word. If you’re interested in helping transform your startup ecosystem, you can submit content for your ecosystem’s Country Guide, or you can submit a contributor post about your ecosystem.

Have a question or want to know more about what we’re building? Feel free to reach out: hello@startupuniversal.com. We’d love to chat.