The study divides the innovation landscape into different areas, such as the amount of venture capital funding, research and development or startup activities. The study also examined innovation on the level of individual sectors, for example in the fields of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and financial technology. Every one of the examined cities could achieve a maximum of 100 points in the 19 categories. With a total score of 60.95, Munich came in No. 18 in the global ranking.
San Francisco topped the ranking and was followed by Peking and New York. Coming in eighth place, Paris achieved the highest ranking in an EU country. Compared within Europe, the French capital city was followed by Berlin in 13th place and then Munich in spot 18. The top 20 primarily includes cities in the US (9), China was listed several times with three cities and Germany with two.
Munich: Universities stand out once again
In the individual categories, Munich scored particularly well in the field of “Universities R&D.” With a score of 85.51, the capital city of Bavaria came in 12th in the international ranking and took second place after Paris in the EU with 85.79 points. Other notable categories for Munich include “Governmental R&D Organizations” with 67.25 points, “Tech Ecosystem” with 66.94 points and “Venture Capital Funding” with 66.95 points. In the remaining categories, Munich scored between 50 and 60 points.
That puts the Bavarian capital city in spot 18 in the international ranking in the field of “Governmental R&D Organizations.” In the EU, this put Munich in sixth place after Paris, Berlin, Grenoble, Madrid and Barcelona. In “Venture Capital Funding” as well, Munich took 18th place in the world and sixth place in the EU. It is also worth noting that after Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Dublin and Amsterdam, Munich had the highest ranking for a city that is not the capital city of a country. In the category “Tech Ecosystem,” however, the city scored only enough points to come in 36th globally and eighth in the EU.
About the study
For the index, Finom created an initial list of 200 cities that are known for their startup activities, research capabilities and strong industry. The final 100 cities were selected based on their maximum scores for these factors. All information is available on this website.