Forbes 30 under 30 data shows London is the best city in the world to be a young entrepreneur
Using the Forbes 30 Under 30 lists from Europe, North America, Russia, Asia and Africa, London has been named as the best city in the world to be a young entrepreneur.
Despite North America being by far the most popular in providing Forbes Under 30 candidates, London is the most popular city for young entrepreneurs to succeed in, business comparison platform Bionic found, analysing the rankings.
In fact, many candidates on the North America, Asia and Russia lists actually live in London, the research found.
Looking at various industries, city, country, university education, and gender of each young entrepreneur, the researchers identified the best places to be when you have a young, hungry entrepreneurial mind.
London beat New York as the most popular city for successful young entrepreneurs to succeed in globally.
| Rank | Most Popular Cities | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
| 1 | London | 115 |
| 2 | New York | 106 |
| 3 | San Francisco | 88 |
| 4 | Moscow | 51 |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 39 |
| 6 | Stockholm | 17 |
| 7 | Toronto | 16 |
| 8 | Berlin | 10 |
| 9 | Boston | 10 |
| 10 | Chicago | 10 |
Countries
Meanwhile, best countries in the world for young entrepreneurs to work in were North America (41 per cent), United Kingdom (14 per cent), Russia (10 per cent), India (7 per cent) and China (2 per cent), according to the Forbes data.
| Rank | Most Popular Countries | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
| 1 | United States | 428 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 145 |
| 3 | Russia | 109 |
| 4 | India | 81 |
| 5 | China | 22 |
| 6 | Germany | 21 |
| 7 | South Korea | 17 |
| 8 | Singapore | 16 |
| 9 | Japan | 15 |
| 10 | Sweden | 15 |
Education is still key
The best universities in the world for prospective entrepreneurs were Stanford University (United States), Indian Institute of Technology (India), Harvard University (United States), University of California (United States) and Imperial College London (United Kingdom).
More than 86 per cent of the candidates were university-educated, proving that higher education is still important for becoming a leading entrepreneur.
| Rank | Most Popular Universities | Number of Forbes Under 30s | Country |
| 1 | Stanford University | 47 | United States |
| 2 | Indian Institute of Technology | 23 | India |
| 3 | Harvard University | 22 | United States |
| 4 | University of California | 22 | United States |
| 5 | Imperial College London | 17 | United Kingdom |
| 6 | Yale University | 13 | United States |
| 7 | Moscow State University | 13 | Russia |
| 8 | University of Cambridge | 12 | United Kingdom |
| 9 | Colombia University | 12 | United States |
| 10 | University of Pennsylvania | 11 | United States |
Industries
IT and Technology was the most popular industry overall, with 20 per cent of Forbes 30 Under 30s working in this area.
| Rank | Most Popular Industries Overall | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
| 1 | Technology | 209 |
| 2 | Manufacturing | 116 |
| 3 | Marketing and Media | 115 |
| 4 | Retail and E-Commerce | 100 |
| 5 | Social Impact | 96 |
| 6 | Healthcare and Science | 90 |
| 7 | Arts and Culture | 74 |
| 8 | Energy | 69 |
| 9 | Finance and Venture Capital | 65 |
| 10 | Education | 38 |
Female entrepreneurs
Europe was the most female-inclusive continent, with 37 per cent of the entrepreneurs studied in Europe being women. Africa and Asia tied at being the least inclusive, with just 27 per cent being women
Arts & Culture was the most female-inclusive industry with 57 per cent of entrepreneurs being women.
Despite being the most populous industries, manufacturing and Technology were the least inclusive with just 20 per cent of entrepreneurs being women respectively
Overall, just 30 per cent of the Forbes Under 30s were female. Average age for young entrepreneurs is 28 – this didn’t differ between men and women.
| Rank | Industries With Most Females | Percentage of Forbes Under 30s |
| 1 | Arts & Culture | 57% |
| 2 | Hospitality/Food and Drink | 41% |
| 3 | Social Impact | 37% |
| 4 | Retail and E-Commerce | 34% |
| 5 | Media and Marketing | 31% |
| 6 | Education | 31% |
| 7 | Finance and Venture Capital | 31% |
| 8 | Energy | 23% |
| 9 | Manufacturing | 20% |
| 10 | Technology | 20% |
Regional breakdown
Some other fun facts from the research, in Europe;
- 37% of young entrepreneurs were female
- About 62% young entrepreneurs are male
- 50% of all European young entrepreneurs were from the UK
- 39% were from London
- 85>% were university-educated
- UK and London were the most popular places for every European industry
- Germany was second most popular place for young entrepreneurs (7%), followed by Netherlands and Sweden (4%)
- Average age for success in Europe is 27
Most popular universities in Europe were all UK universities
| Rank | University | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
| 1 | Imperial College London | 12 |
| 2 | University of Oxford | 11 |
| 3 | University of Oxford | 11 |
| 4 | University College London | 9 |
| 5 | University of Warwick | 7 |
North America
- Most popular cities were New York (92), San Francisco (88), Los Angeles (39) Brooklyn (14), and Boston (10), Berlin (10) and Chicago (10)
- 30% of young entrepreneurs were female
- About 96>% were university-educated
- Technology was by far the most popular industry, followed by social impact
- Average age for success was just 22
| Rank | Most Popular Universities | Number of Forbes Under 30s |
| 1 | Stanford University | 47 |
| 2 | Harvard University | 22 |
| 3 | University of California | 22 |
| 4 | Yale University | 13 |
| 5 | Colombia University | 12 |
Asia
- 17% were female
- 41% were from India, 11% were from China, and 8% were from Singapore and South Korea
- Average age for success is 26
- 23 (11%) went to Indian Institute of Technology, making it by far the most popular Asian university. The National University of Singapore (3%) was the second most popular, but the remaining entrepreneurs came from a more mixed range
- Technology was most popular (45%) industry, followed by Science and Healthcare (14%)
Africa
- 40% came from South Africa, and 20% came from Nigeria
- 20% worked in Johannesburg
- Arts & Culture was the most popular industry here for young entrepreneurs
- 73% were male, 27% female
- Average age for success was 27
Russia
- There were twice as many arts & culture entrepreneurs in Russia as there were in any other category. This includes young entrepreneurs working in industries like fashion and design, art, and theatre
- Average age was 25
- 33% of entrepreneurs were female
- Moscow is best city to succeed in for young entrepreneurs in Russia
- 12% of candidates went to Moscow State University, while 10% went to Moscow Higher School of Economics.