Where are the best cities for millennial entrepreneurs to start businesses?
Video: Smart city index reveals who's falling behind (London and NYC are laggy)
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The global generation of millennials are increasingly looking to moving abroad for work opportunities and starting their own business ventures.
With the home ownership out of reach in the world's cities, rent prices soaring, and the political climate changing, research shows that millennials are less financially stable compared to previous generations.
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UK-based price comparison website GoCompare has recently conducted a study that delves into the best hubs around the world for millennials looking to build their empires.
The study highlighted factors such as funding for businesses, internet access, and the cost of living.
Surprisingly, the US does not make it into the top five hubs and only has two cities in the top 10 of the leaderboard.
Tallinn, Estonia tops the leaderboard. Tallinn has the best cost of living compared to all European and North American cities.
It also scored highly for its ease for registering property, starting, and running a business.
Four of Canada's cities featured in the top 10, and Toronto took second place in the list. Toronto is one of best destinations for starting a business and paying taxes, making it the best location in North America for entrepreneurs.
If you are female, move to Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland ranks third and is the best city for starting and running a business. It also scores highly for diversity, making it one of the best places for women and immigrants to start businesses.
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If your business is in the financial or tech sector, move to Singapore, which is ranked fourth in the list. It is home to over 270 Fintech startups, making it the frontrunner of Fintech space across Asia.
Singapore also scores highly for starting and running a business, making it an attractive location outside of the West. Grabbing a coffee there is cheap, too, at an average of $1.64 compared to $4.59 in Silicon Valley
With London's tech sector fueling the growth for its digital economy, the capital ranked second for diversity after Silicon Valley.
There, 42 percent of business owners originate from outside the UK. Despite a high living cost, London, ranked fifth in the list, scores highly amongst all other metrics, still making it a popular destination for entrepreneurs.
Cities in the US are lowed down the list: Silicon Valley, Calif., ranked eight, while Boston, Mass., ranked 10, and New York ranked 11.
Even though it is not one of the top 10 cities, Moscow, ranking at 21, leads the way for public Wi-Fi hotspots, offering a total of 41,250.
Helsinki, at No. 26, offers the fastest internet connectivity, racing ahead with 17.4mbps -- a huge contrast to both Silicon Valley and London, which offer some of the slowest Wi-Fi, at 3.7mbps
So, what are entrepreneurs looking for?
Also: Smart cities: A cheat sheet TechRepublic
Diversity in business broadly equates to fairer representation across the whole of society. In this study, diversity was ranked according to the relative number of businesses with female and/or immigrant founders. Here, Silicon Valley led the way in diversity, with London closely behind.
One of the non-negotiable features in the 21st-century working world is digital connectivity. Location-independent entrepreneurs will dominate wherever connectivity is good.
Getting Wi-Fi connectivity to a suitable speed will be crucial to attract young entrepreneurs and make your city smart.
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