Silicon Valley and London remain the world’s leading cleantech ecosystems, but Amsterdam is catching up

By Team IO

The global Cleantech ecosystem shows resilience despite a dip in venture capital investments, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Report Climatetech Edition from Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network. Moreover, the Amsterdam Delta region makes it into the top three world-leading Cleantech ecosystems, holding the highest number of startups after Silicon Valley and London. 

The report examines both the Cleantech and the Blue Economy sectors. Cleantech refers to sustainable solutions in the fields of energy, water, transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing that include advanced materials, smart grids, water treatment, efficient energy storage, and distributed energy systems. The Blue Economy is defined as the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and job creation while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.

Amsterdam climbing the cleantech ranking 

Cleantech’s Series A funding increased by fifteen percent in absolute terms between Q4 2022 and Q2 2023, being the highest increase among all sub-sectors. In addition, Series B funding also grew by 34 percent in the same period. Overall, between the first half (H1) of 2020 and H1 2023, Cleantech Series A increased by 73 percent, and Series B increased by 166 percent. Thanks to strong investments in 2022, Europe leads all the other regions in Series A funding for this period. 

With Silicon Valley retaining its top position and London second, Amsterdam moved from seventh place in 2021 to the lowest place on the podium, as it is home to the largest number of Cleantech startups outside the British capital. Stockholm, Oslo, and Paris are the next highest-ranked European ecosystems – placing ninth, tenth, and eleventh respectively. 

European institutions claim the top spot in other dedicated rankings. EIT-Climate KIC is the lead cleantech accelerator and incubator of the continent. EIT-InnoEnergy places first as a VC firm and investor in the region. 

Cleantech stays strong amid lack of funding and ‘climate stuckness’

Advanced electrolyzers for hydrogen production, up-to-date geothermal systems, and AI-powered soil measures are a few examples of the many technologies that fall under the umbrella of cleantech.

Europe driving the Blue Economy

Blue Economy is also developing. In H1 2023, Series A funding in this subsector increased by 31 percent compared to H1 2021. In the same period, the median Series A deal increased by forty percent. Europe is driving this expansion, as it surpassed North America in its share of Series A funding. 

Singapore maintains its top spot as a Blue Economy startup ecosystem, having a high number of relevant startups and strong university support. After Singapore, there is Oslo, which surpassed Silicon Valley in this ranking. Just outside of the podium is the Amsterdam Delta region, followed by London. 

Again, European institutions retain leading spots in their rankings. EIT Food is the best Blue Economy accelerator and incubator in Europe, while EIT-InnoEnergy gets the title of best VC firm and investor in this subsector, too. 

You can find the full report here.