Six years ago I attended a symposium on Toronto’s roll in the tech/design landscape in North America. At the time it was said we were 3rd in north America for the volume and quality of ICT skilled workers following New York and San Francisco.

This week, Rip Empson, janitor at Techcrunch, shared Startup Genome’s findings on How The World’s Top Tech Hubs Stack Up. And it seems we’re holding on to our ranking in the global context.

Startup Genome is also offering a new ranking for the world’s top 25 startup ecosystems, ordered by their average throughput:

  1. Silicon Valley (San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, Oakland)
  2. New York City (NYC, Brooklyn)
  3. London
  4. Toronto 
  5. Tel Aviv
  6. Los Angeles
  7. Singapore
  8. Sao Paulo
  9. Bangalore
  10. Moscow

Ben Zifkin begs to differ on this count:

Take what you will from their data but having spent the last 3 years in London, my personal feeling is that we are way ahead of them.

Aside from a few Valley VC outpost offices, we have a way better talent pool, culture of collaboration and (believe it or not) hunger to succeed.

We had a choice to start our new company anywhere in the world and I am grateful every day that we chose Toronto.

While I’m in no position to argue London vs Toronto, having spent all of our time floating around the North American ecosystem, I certainly won’t argue that we have talent to spare and, at least, an interest in collaboration and a strong support ecosystem in Toronto.

I can certainly say that I’m more connected to my peers, fellow entrepreneurs, and designers now than I was 6 years ago. And there seems to be a stronger ecosystem of success, leadership, and collaboration than those days.

Sure, there are a substantial number of really smart people who have (very) recently made their way to the valley, or to NYC, but that hasn’t drained us; it’s just widened our collective reach and only helps to spread the word about the quality of people in Toronto.

We’re certainly happy to headquarter here with the community, the talent, and the city we all love, in a country that isn’t quite as divisive as our neighbours to the south.

So here’s to another great year of innovation, great design, and success in Toronto.