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

Saudi Arabia Sees Major Improvement, Climbing 31 Ranks
Denmark (5th) Rises 2 Places in DII Global Top 10
Australia (7th) Falls 2 Places
Norway Falters Again, Dropping to 18th
Japan (15th) Continues to Climb DII Global Top 20
Russia Slips Further to 208th
Uruguay Improves to 35th
Bangladesh, Brazil, and Columbia Rise

Oakland, California – BizWorld announces its September 2024 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.

“As you can see, AI- and Machine Learning-related investments, or the lack thereof, were a major factor in which countries climbed up or fell down the DII Global ranks this month,” said BizWorld founder Tim Draper. “Beyond all the hype is the reality that these rapidly emerging technologies do have tremendous economic potential, and investing in them should be a part of any country’s long-term research, innovation, and economic strategies. National economies need to consider ways to make these investments a key priority or risk getting left behind.”

Top Takeaways from the DII Global September 2024 Update

• Saudi Arabia benefitted from an improved travel advisory update from the U.S. State Department as well as strong investment growth in AI/Machine Learning. It saw significant improvement across all three DII Global scenarios -- from 145th to 114th in the DII Balanced and from 112th to 88th in Emerging Innovation.
• Denmark and Australia switched places (with Denmark rising from 7th to 5th and Australia falling from 5th to 7th) due to Denmark’s surging AI/Machine Learning venture capital investment growth and the Australian dollar’s weakness against bitcoin.
• The yen’s strong performance against bitcoin helped push Japan higher from 19th to 15th
  Despite strong investment growth in AI/Machine Learning, Norway’s comparatively weak local currency to bitcoin performance pushed it down from 16th to 18th.
• Russia continued to struggle, falling from 207th to 208th due to weak currency performance and consistent “Do Not Travel” advisories from the U.S. State Department.
• With a strong currency to bitcoin performance, Uruguay improved from 36th to 35th in the DII Global and from 45th to 40th in the Emerging Innovation scenario.
• Following a revision to the U.S. State Department’s “Do Not Travel” advisory to “Reconsider Travel,” Bangladesh rose 8 places to 192nd.
  Thanks to growth in AI/Machine Learning investments, Brazil rose from 92nd to 84th.
• Similar to Brazil, and with better currency to bitcoin performance, Colombia registered strong AI/Machine Learning venture capital investment growth helping to push it from 86th to 79th.

“Bitcoin has become a major factor for individual nations’ performances on the DII Global,” said BizWorld Chief Economic Advisor Dr. Wallace Walrod. “It might not make headlines as often as in the past few years, but cryptocurrency has become an important component of leadership in the global economy, and something to be taken strongly into consideration when shaping economic and financial policy. The local currency’s performance against bitcoin should be a factor in these policies because the days of cryptocurrency as a just a novelty are long gone.”

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/