Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, has been ranked as the 11th emerging startup ecosystem in the world in The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020 (GSER2020), by Startup Genome.

GSER2020 was launched last week in San Francisco CA, unveiling its research findings based on data from 1 million companies across 150+ cities worldwide.

Startup Genome benchmarked Kuala Lumpur’s performance against more than 250 ecosystems globally. 

The following were unveiled in the report, with Kuala Lumpur being ranked:

• Top 10 Emerging Ecosystem in Performance.

• Top 20 Emerging Ecosystem in Talent.

In addition, the report positioned Kuala Lumpur as an ideal locale for startups, citing low costs, high quality of living and talent, fast-tracked visas and robust government support as prime reasons for entrepreneurs to either start or move their businesses to Malaysia.

In expressing her delight, Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC, attributed the positive rankings of Kuala Lumpur to the entrepreneurial vigour of local startup founders and the astuteness of the ecosystem players, which are aptly positioning Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.

“We will not rest on our laurels and will remain steadfast in propelling Malaysia’s startup ecosystem to attain global recognition in the economic epicentres of every continent,” added Surina.

The GSER 2020 also provides guidance to both public and private leaders on how to foster thriving startup ecosystems, particularly on how governments worldwide can support and leverage tech ecosystems to restart stalling economies recovering from the pandemic lockdowns.

Find out how the entrepreneurial ecosystems across the world stack up and view the full report here.