The New Geography of Innovation: The global contest for breakthrough technologies

In this groundbreaking book, Mehran Gul maps the recent waves of technological advancement up until the current moment to show how innovation becomes a far more global game.

This is a story about technology and the places where it finds its way into the world. Silicon Valley has been unrivalled for half-a-century in spinning out technologies and fast-growing, high value, billion plus dollar tech companies – the Apples, Facebooks, Googles of the world – that made it the centre for the most rapid creation of wealth in human history. But now its secrets are spreading to more parts of the world.

It used to be rare for a new company to reach a billion-dollar scale. In 2013 there were only 39 privately held billion-dollar tech companies in the world. Now, it happens a lot. In 2023, there are over 1,200. And it used to be only in the US that these sorts of companies could be found. In 2013, only 12 of the 39 privately held billion-dollar companies were based outside the US. Now, they’re everywhere. In 2023, over 500, nearly half of all billion-dollar tech companies, are overseas.

The geography of innovation is shifting. The modern world has a lot more high value tech companies than ever before, growing a lot faster than ever before, in a lot more places than ever before. The broad contours of this emerging world are visible dimly in the distance. This book has been an attempt to chart its bold new frontiers.