2024 Agenda

December 3rd, 2024
18:00-22:30 CET
Mayer Brown, 10 avenue Hoche, Paris
CSS & SES Networking Cocktail Reception
Hosted by

December 4th, 2024
15:00 – 19:30 CET
ICC Headquarters, 33-43 avenue du Président Wilson

Startup Ecosystem Stars 2024 Award Ceremony

Startup Ecosystem Stars is the annual gathering to award the best practices among organizations responsible for the promotion of Ecosystems of Innovation. Invited organizations have a strong association with a local ecosystem and can represent cities, regions, or countries. The objective is to recognize the best practices from the world’s best Innovation Regions and Cities.

• Welcome and Opening Remarks
  John Denton, Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce
  Maria Fernanda Garza, Honorary Chair, International Chambers of Commerce
  Alberto Onetti, Chairman, Mind the Bridge
  Marco Marinucci, CEO, Mind the Bridge
  Candace Johnson, Executive Board Member, International Chamber of Commerce
  Jonathan Ortmans, President, Global Entrepreneurship Network
  

• Keynote
  “From French Tech to Europe and beyond: Scaling Private Investment with the Tibi Initiative”
  Philippe Tibi, Président du comité exécutif et des comités techniques du projet “Financement Scale-UP” chez Ministère de l’Economie, des Finances et de la Relance and Professor of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique

• Deep Dive
  “The European Innovation Council Strategy to boost innovation in Europe”
  Isidro Laso Ballesteros, European Innovation Council – DG R&I – European Commission

• Presentation of Mind the Bridge Startup Ecosystem Stars Report 2024: “Innovation or Isolation: The Future of Regional Ecosystems”
  Alberto Onetti, Chairman, Mind the Bridge
  

   

• Startup Ecosystem Star Award to former Minister of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups, and Micro-enterprises of Algeria Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid (and current Minister of Vocational Education and Training)
  

• “Visionary Public Procurement” 2024 Award (by The Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre – IPEC)
  Rikesh Shah, Head of Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre, Connected Places Catapult
  

• Awards for Startup Ecosystem Stars 2024

• Keynote
  JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois

• Awards for Startup Ecosystem Rising Stars 2024

• Closing Remarks

• Networking Cocktail

Close door events restricted to invited participants

Yacine El-Mahdi Oualid
Former Minister of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups, and Micro-enterprises of Algeria. Current Minister of Vocational Education and Training of Algeria

Mariya Gabriel
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Bulgaria and former EU Commissioner
in charge of Innovation

Startup Ecosystem Stars Report 2024

The key themes shaping innovation today are concentration and agglomeration.

Contrary to popular belief, the world of innovation is far from “flat.” 
Instead, innovation is heavily concentrated in a select few global hubs that thrive due to their dense networks of scaleups, abundant access to capital, and rich pools of talent. Leading the charge are innovation powerhouses like Silicon Valley, Israel, and a handful of other dominant centers worldwide. These hubs consistently capture the attention and investment of “innovation hunters”—venture capital funds, multinational corporations, and more – creating a self-reinforcing cycle that cements their dominant positions.To highlight their influence, 50% of Fortune 500 companies maintain a presence in the Bay Area, while 28% are established in Israel.

In contrast, the majority of local ecosystems – spanning countries, regions, and cities – remain largely underrepresented and face a widening gap. For these “tier 2” ecosystems, navigating the stages of the Innovation Ecosystems Life Cycle is a lengthy and challenging process. Based on our data, it typically takes:

– Around 10 years to develop a national innovation hub.

– Another 7–8 years to establish a strong presence as a continental hotspot.

Despite the challenges, there is good news. Some regions are making faster progress by prioritizing policies and public investment that stimulate local economic growth through technological innovation. A key trait of these “fast movers” is their ability to rapidly scale and build global connections.
These efforts not only foster vibrant local ecosystems but also connect startups to international funding and strategic opportunities. By establishing partnerships with global startups and research centers, these ecosystems enable local companies to tackle innovation challenges and adopt open innovation strategies.

The progress of these fast movers underscores the importance of identifying and replicating best practices from successful ecosystems, whether at the city, regional, or national level. Initiatives like Startup Ecosystem Stars, developed in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), aim to spotlight these benchmarks and help more local ecosystems secure a spot on the global innovation map.

Judging Commitee