Baseline Survey of the Mongolian Start-up Ecosystem — A JICA-Backed Diagnostic to Guide National Innovation Policy

In early 2022 the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), together with local consultancies KITE Mongolia and the Mongolian Marketing Consulting Group, ran the first systematic baseline survey of Mongolia's technology start-up ecosystem. Because Mongolian deals are absent from the global databases (Crunchbase, Dealroom) that the Startup Genome Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) normally relies on, the team instead interviewed 80 start-up founders, 10 accelerators and incubators, 9 universities and technology colleges, and national and international development organisations directly, following the GSER's five-pillar framework (Performance, Funding, Market Reach, Experience/Talent/Knowledge, Connectedness).
The 80 surveyed start-ups reported having created 1,318 jobs (717 full-time, 601 part-time), an estimated ecosystem value of MNT 452.1 billion, MNT 60.2 billion in combined annual revenue and MNT 102.3 billion in initial and follow-on funding raised. For comparison, the survey noted that Mongolia's entire travel sector — a recognised pillar of the economy — generated MNT 54 billion in revenue and supported 1,237 jobs in 2021, positioning the young start-up sector as already comparable in scale.
The report benchmarked Mongolia against Japan, Singapore, Lithuania and Estonia and flagged specific weaknesses via the Global Innovation Index — Mongolia ranked #110 in business environment, #123 in innovation linkages and #124 in knowledge diffusion. It found that only 27 companies were legally eligible for the tax incentives in Mongolia's 2019 Law on Innovation because of the law's narrow start-up definition, and it recommended updating the law, clarifying institutional responsibility, and creating targeted investment and tax incentives. Findings were presented to policymakers at stakeholder seminars in Ulaanbaatar.
The headline figures come with an explicit caveat from the survey's own authors: ecosystem value, revenue and funding data are self-reported by founders and could not be independently verified, so they represent the sector's stated potential rather than an audited measure of its true size. Mongolia had produced no unicorns and no Series B round as of the survey date, and responsibility for start-up policy has since been reshuffled across three ministries without a dedicated agency being created.

Read the full analysis: https://www.startupblink.com/startup-ecosystem/mongolia