Riyadh among world’s most ambitious entrepreneurial cities

Riyadh was the only Middle East city to rank in the top 20. (file/Reuters)

• Ranking looks at factors including number of new businesses registered
• London topped the ranking, followed by Sidney and Cape Town

RIYADH: The Saudi capital is the world’s 14th most ambitious city for entrepreneurs, according to a study by UK-based card payment provider, Dojo.
The ranking is calculated by considering five factors including the number of new businesses registered, the cost of starting a business as a percentage of GNI per capita, GDP per capita, percentage of the population with access to education, and Google searches for starting a new business.
Riyadh scored 328 out of 500 after it saw 12,116 new businesses registered in the city in the past year, and 1,470 Google searches for “how to start a new business” and a 14 percent increase in searches for “how to fund a new business” compared with the previous year.
London was ranked as the most entrepreneurial city, with a score of 481, followed by Sidney at 402, Cape Town at 384 and New York at 379. Riyadh was the only Middle East city to feature in the top 20.