The study divides the innovation landscape into various categories, including the level of venture capital funding, research and development, and startup activities. The study also examines innovation at the level of individual industries, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and financial technology. Each of the cities examined achieved a maximum of 100 points in each of the 19 categories. Munich achieved 18th place in the global ranking with an overall score of 60.95.
San Francisco leads the ranking, followed by Beijing and New York. Paris, at 8th place, is the highest-ranked city from an EU country. In a European comparison, the French capital is followed by Berlin in 13th place and Munich in 18th place. The top 20 are primarily made up of cities from the USA (9), while China (3) and Germany (2) are also represented multiple times.
Munich: Universities stand out once again
In the individual categories, Munich performed particularly well in the area of "Research and Development at Universities." With a score of 85.51, the state capital ranks 12th internationally and second in the EU, behind Paris with 85.79 points. Other notable categories for Munich include "Research and Development of Government Organizations" with 67.25 points, "Technical Environment" with 66.94 points, and "Venture Capital Financing" with 66.95 points. In the other categories, Munich ranged between 50 and 60 points.
This puts the state capital in 18th place internationally in the area of "Research and Development of Government Organizations." This is enough for sixth place within the EU, behind Paris, Berlin, Grenoble, Madrid, and Barcelona. Munich also ranks 18th globally in "Venture Capital Financing," and sixth in the EU. It is also noteworthy that Munich is the highest-ranking non-capital city in the ranking, behind Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Dublin, and Amsterdam. In the "Technological Environment" section, however, it only ranks 36th globally and eighth in the EU.
About the study
For the index, Finom compiled an initial list of 200 cities known for their startup activity, research capabilities, and strong industry. The final 100 cities were then selected based on their highest scores for these factors. All data can be on this website can be viewed.
