BizWorld Updates Monthly Draper Innovation Index Global
Nations Compete to Land in Top Ten of Best Places Globally
to Launch a Startup

DII Global Top Ten Remains Stable
Argentina, Honduras, and Uruguay Rise up the DII Global Rankings
Russia and China Slip Lower
Brazil, Thailand, Kazakhstan Fall
Colombia, Cape Verde, and Maldives Rise
South Korea Overtakes Norway in DII Global Top 20
Iceland’s Rise Pushes Japan and France Lower
Malta Breaks into DII Global Top 20, Austria Falls Out

Oakland, California – BizWorld announces its May 2025 update to the Draper Innovation Index Global (DII Global), which evaluates each nation’s ability to develop, support, and retain entrepreneurs, innovators, startups, and investors. First published in 2021, the DII Global provides the most well-rounded and up-to-date look at entrepreneurial environments across the globe.

“Argentina continues its rise up the DII Global rankings,” said BizWorld Founder Tim Draper. “This month’s improvement was primarily due to an increase in AI-related investments. Milei’s deregulatory and free trade policies seem to be bearing fruit, and could bear more in the future – AI has tremendous growth potential in almost every industry. Forward looking AI investments today, such as those made recently by Argentina, should lead to significant growth tomorrow.”

Top Takeaways from the DII Global May 2025 Update

• Argentina continues to post month-over-month gains in the DII Global, with venture capital AI investments driving a higher ranking.
• Honduras improved 3 ranks in the DII Global and 1 rank in Emerging Innovation thanks to comparatively stronger currency and venture capital investment performance.
• Uruguay improved from 41st to 39th, while also improving by 1 rank in Emerging Innovation and 4 ranks in Government Quality, thanks to a stable outlook from the S&P and increasing monthly AI/Machine learning venture capital investments.
• With a re-affirmed “Do Not Travel” warning and ongoing economic concerns, Russia sank from 212th to 213th
• A decline in venture capital investments into AI/Machine Learning combined with a worsening World Uncertainty Index pushed China lower to 63rd in the DII Global Balanced scenario, from 28th to 29th in Emerging Innovation, and to 135th in Government Quality.
• Following Brazil’s rise last month, the country fell back down from 83rd to 92nd, primarily due to weak currency performance.
• Thailand also slipped lower, from 93rd to 100th, largely due to lower venture capital investment trends.
• Kazakhstan saw its DII Global ranking fall from 153rd to 159th, due to poor currency performance.
• Registering the single largest improvement in the DII Global, Colombia rose from 86th to 74th, due to a large jump in monthly venture capital AI/Machine learning investments.
• Both Cape Verde and Maldives had comparatively stronger currency performance, allowing Cape Verde to improve from 92nd to 88th while Maldives rose from 98th to 94th.
• Weak performance across most DII Global metrics pushed Norway down from 15th to 16th, allowing South Korea to climb to 15th in the DII Global while also moving from 19th to 18th in Government Quality.
• Following several months of declines, Iceland was able to reverse this trend thanks to a combination of strong currency performance and rising AI/Machine Learning investments, lifting it from 19th to 17th, while pushing Japan (18th) and France (19th) lower.
• Malta returned to the DII Top 20 this month, improving from 22nd to 20th, supported by a ‘positive’ outlook from the S&P and healthy currency performance.
• India remained stable in the DII Global this month.

“Milei’s administration has taken another big economic step forward,” said BizWorld Chief Economic Advisor Dr. Wallace Walrod. “Argentina has secured a $20 billion IMF loan and is eliminating the previous administrations foreign currency restrictions. Together with a growing list of positive fundamentals – such as the Milei administration’s fiscal policies which led to the first budget surplus after almost two decades of often massive deficient – and a laissez-faire approach, Argentina could see significant growth in the near future.”

The DII Global will release monthly updates to continually reflect the latest developments in global innovation and entrepreneurship, available here.

About BizWorld

BizWorld.org is a global non-profit organization based in Oakland, CA, whose mission is to enable youth from all backgrounds to unlock the power of entrepreneurship to create career opportunities, inspire self-reliance, and build confidence that drives economic prosperity globally.     Founded over 25 years ago by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, BizWorld.org programs teach students real-world 21st century skills and leadership that encourage them to become responsible leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. More than 850,000 students in more than 100 countries have participated in BizWorld programs. https://www.bizworld.org/