The Manchester-Liverpool region has been ranked among the top 10 in a report scoring the world's emerging start-up ecosystems.
The North West region came 9th in the 2020 Global Startup Ecosystem Report by Startup Genome.
The report assessed 270 systems around the world on the performance of start-ups, access to early-stage funding, the ability to scale up and the talent locally availalble.
The cities ranked 5th among emerging ecosystems in Europe, and second in the UK, behind London.
With a start-up ecosystem valued at $9.2bn, the report said Manchester firms benefit from global connectivity, the largest venture capital concentration outside of London, university spin-outs, a large number of STEM graduates and a concentration of incubators which drive collaboration.
That meant the region ranked higher than Dubai, Lyon and Chengdu.
Tim Newns, CEO of MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, said: “Manchester’s resilience has been tested like never before during the Covid crisis.
"This report demonstrates how well Manchester is perceived globally, and as we build back better it will be the entrepreneurs and start-ups grown and attracted here who play a key role in shaping the future of our region.”
The news is the latest in a series of recent accolades and rankings for Manchester, including Tech Nation assessing Manchester as Europe’s fastest growing major tech cluster, CompTIA rating the city as UK number one for IT careers, and FDI ranking as number one European large city for business friendliness.
