How emerging cities are taking on global innovation hubs

Bangalore, India’s third largest city, last year beat out Shanghai in venture capital funding for the first time.

The city has long been regarded as India’s Silicon Valley and the hub for many of the country’s big tech firms. But the surge in investment — a 162% year-on-year growth in new capital, according to Crunchbase — signaled a broader shift among investors, who are diverting attention from more typical innovation and talent hotspots.

“Innovation-oriented industries and availability of talent will be key growth drivers for the next cycle of urban and real estate recovery,” says Carol Hodgson, Global Research Director at JLL. “There is a strong link between innovation, talent ecosystems and real estate performance.”

Bangalore was one of nine cities dubbed “emerging innovators” in JLL’s Innovation Geographies report. While major U.S. and European cities, along with rising Asia Pacific powerhouses, dominate the list of top cities for innovation, cities like Chengdu, Delhi, Guangzhou, and Hyderabad are catching the eye of global companies looking to expand, and real estate investors diversifying beyond established innovation hubs.