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Celebrating the Architects of Global Startup Ecosystems
Meet the 2025 SES Stars
SES Winners 2025 – Group picture
Now in its third edition, Startup Ecosystem Stars (SES) recognises exemplary leadership and best practices among organisations and individuals advancing innovation and entrepreneurship worldwide, with particular emphasis on public sector efforts to nurture dynamic, competitive, and impactful startup ecosystems.
“Innovation remains the cornerstone of global economic growth. ICC is proud to support initiatives that drive meaningful impact through private-sector collaboration to shape the future of global commerce.” -ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AOcommented.
A Global Snapshot of the SES 2025 Winners
This year’s awarded organizations – 36 as “Stars” and 18 as “Rising Stars” – represent a broad and diverse set of models and geography of ecosystem-building.
Stars honor top organizations that have demonstrated outstanding leadership, sustained impact, and comprehensive excellence across the key drivers of innovation ecosystem development. These organizations set benchmarks and act as role models on the global stage.
The second group (Rising Stars) recognizes organizations that are on a strong and promising path toward becoming leading innovation ecosystem builders. While they may not yet rank among the top tier, their efforts in advancing one or more key drivers show significant potential and positive momentum.
“Startup ecosystems are the infrastructure of the future economy.The diversity and quality of this year’s winners demonstrate how innovation capacity is expanding globally, driven by organisations committed to fostering entrepreneurship, talent, and long-term competitiveness -Marco Marinucci, CEO and Founder of Mind the Bridge, added – Once again, SES showcases the extraordinary work happening behind the scenes of the world’s most vibrant startup ecosystems. These organisations, whether established innovation agencies or emerging ecosystem builders, play an essential role in helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into scalable impact.”
“These awards are a true testament to the power and importance of fostering inclusive ecosystems that drive innovation and growth”,Jury member and Former ICC Executive Board member Candace Johnson said.
Westminster City Councilreceived thePublic Sector Special Award in “Visionary Public Procurement” promoted by theInnovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), the UK's competency centre for innovation procurement, working with public procurers and supply side innovators to create better outcomes, including supporting high-growth companies.
“It is a pleasure to award this international recognition to Westminster City Council this year. – said Rikesh Shah, Head of Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre at Connected Places Catapult- They have brilliantly used the power of public procurement to buy a solution from an innovative SME in pursuit of our aim of net zero.”
The 2025 winners are:
36 STARS: ACATE, ART-ER S.Cons.p.a., BEBKA, BESCO – The Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association, CCDRC, I.P. (Regional Coordination and Development Commission of Centro Region of Portugal), Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Connect Väst, Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, Cyprus Seeds, EIT Digital, Future Unicorns Accelerator, Hamburg Invest Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft mbH – Scaleup Hamburg, I3P Incubatore Politecnico di Torino, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, ImpactCity, Invest Atlanta, Joule – Eni school of Entrepreneurship, Kickstart Innovation, Málaga TechPark, Monsha’at Innovation Center – The General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, Munich Innovation Ecosystem, National Innovation Agency (Public Organization), Novation City, NTUitive, Port of Barcelona, Qatar Development Bank, Qatar Research, Development and Innovation (QRDI) Council, São Paulo Innovation District, Sas for Digital Innovation (Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technology), SmiLe Venture Hub, SpinLab Group, Startup Colorado, Startup Portugal, Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Up!Rotterdam, Westminster City Council.
18 RISING STARS:351 Associação Portuguesa de Startups, Brightlands Startup League, Digital Penang Sdn. Bhd., Dock Startup Lab, EIT Hub Israel, Financial Institution of the Liguria Region, Founders Foundation GmbH, Innovation Centre Kosovo, InnovUp, Municipality of Cluj-Napoca, National Development Council Zhongxing New Village Regional Revitalization Startup Incubator, Québec Tech, RIE Red de Innovación y Emprendimiento | Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico y La Competitividad del Estado de Tabasco, SGInnovate, SMAU, Start.up! Germany Tour, Startup Lithuania at Innovation Agency Lithuania, Trentino Sviluppo.
The Report
The Calm Before the AI Storm
“On the surface, the balance of power looks nearly identical to a decade ago; underneath, the ground is shifting fast”, commentedMarco Marinucci, CEO&Founder of Mind the Bridge.
In 25 years, venture capital has built a $4.2T startup economy counting 97,982 scaleups worldwide (7,030 “Scalers” and 473 “Super Scalers”). Nearly 8,000 new scaleups emerged in the last year alone, yet innovation remains heavily concentrated: almost 50% in three U.S. hubs; APAC follows (27k scaleups; $1.3T raised), while Europe hosts 22% of scaleups but only 13% of capital. LATAM, MENA, and Africa remain marginal beyond early stages.
Looking at a decade rather than a year transforms the picture.
In 2015 fewer than 500 ecosystems appeared on the global life-cycle curve; today nearly 900 do. The elite “Star” stage expanded from 3 to 19 ecosystems, and the “Scaleup” stage from 13 to 45, with 18 late-stage hubs now outside the US and APAC.Europe shows the strongest pipeline of early-stage ecosystems, though whether this is untapped potential or structural fragmentation remains open. Meanwhile, entire regions – LATAM, MENA, Africa – are still largely absent in advanced stages.
The report also highlights theimpending shock of AI.
“Innovation brings quiet revolutions: nothing happens until everything changes. The AI storm will redraw the map faster than any previous technological wave”, addedAlberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Bridge.
Ecosystem progression follows an exponential path, doubling scaleups every stage and advancing roughly every four years, faster for globally connected hubs.São Paulo, Gyeonggi, Quebec, Alberta, Riyadh, Mexico City, London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Singapore, and Lagosexemplify rapid ascent.
The message is clear: ecosystems investing decisively in startups, industry collaboration, talent, capital, policy, and innovation-driven procurement are the ones rising. The calm before the storm will not last, and SES Awards aims to spotlight who leads, who lags, and who may surge when the AI wave breaks.
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International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the institutional representative of more than 45 million companies in over 170 countries. ICC’s core mission is to make business work for everyone, every day, everywhere. Through a unique mix of advocacy, solutions and standard setting, we promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation, in addition to providing market-leading dispute resolution services. Our members include many of the world’s leading companies, SMEs, business associations and local chambers of commerce.
Mind the Bridge
Mind the Bridge is a global open innovation platform, providing services and products to corporates and local startup ecosystems. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Barcelona, Seoul, Tel Aviv, New York and Milan, it has been working as an international bridge at the intersection between startups and corporates since 2007. Mind the Bridge scouts, filters, and works with 10,000+ startups a year supporting global corporations with open innovation initiatives that translate into curated deals with startups (POCs. procurement, investments, and/or acquisitions). It also provides corporates with advisory services and benchmarking on innovation strategies and structures. Mind the Bridge developed MTB Ecosystem, an AI-powered open innovation matching platform for innovation ecosystem hubs and corporates. Mind the Bridge, in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce, annually hosts the ‘Corporate Startup Stars’ awards, recognizing the most startup-friendly global corporates, and the ‘Startup Ecosystem Stars,’ which highlights public and private organizations—at municipal, regional, national, and transnational levels—that support innovation within their ecosystems.
Serena Orizi
PR and Media Relations
Mind the Bridge
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