Our friends at Technical.ly just released the first edition of the Map of Innovation Ecosystems, created to rank and benchmark 24 innovation and startup hubs across the U.S. The list includes usual suspects like San Francisco, Boston and Austin. It also includes smaller hubs like Kansas City, Wilmington, Delaware and Omaha.

The cities on the list were chosen for a variety of reasons related to activity in their entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as the existence of “something like an innovation storytelling strategy.” Think along the lines of a local startup storytelling vehicle like Silicon Prairie News in Nebraska, or Startland News in KC.

This new interactive tool highlights local resources and debuts the Innovation Index that rates metrics like cost of living and number of startup exits in order to create an objective ranking for comparison.

Read the story on SPN to see who came out on top, where Omaha shines and what needs to improve so that Omaha — and Nebraska — can evolve into a more competitive startup hub.

Silicon Prairie News is a 501(c)(3). That means our reporting on the Nebraska startup ecosystem is powered by generous donations from community members just like you. Right now we’re raising funds to expand SPN’s coverage by adding two new full time reporters to our newsroom in 2025.

Make a tax-deductible donation to SPN before the end of the year and your gift will be doubled by a match!