awesome-startups

Category: Themed Directories
Tags: startups, business-tools, awesome-lists

A GitHub-hosted, automatically updated directory of the top 100 startups worldwide, plus country-specific startup lists, based on data from Startupranking.

Overview

awesome-startups is an open-source curated list that aggregates startup rankings from startupranking.com. It maintains:

• A global list of the top 100 startups
• Per-country lists of startups
• A ranking-based structure that’s regenerated regularly using a PHP script and JSON data files

The project follows the broader awesome-* list convention and is designed as a reference resource for founders, researchers, and startup enthusiasts.

Features

• Global Top 100 List

  • Maintains a list of the top 100 startups worldwide.
  • Rankings are sourced directly from Startupranking and ordered by rank.

• Country-based Startup Lists

  • countries/ directory contains per-country startup lists.
  • Countries are sorted in descending order by the number of startups associated with each country.
  • Within each country file, startups are sorted in ascending order of their rankings.

• Automated Daily Updates

  • A PHP script (fetch-countries.php and index.php) fetches and processes the latest data from startupranking.com.
  • Lists are regenerated on a daily basis to keep rankings current.
  • README includes a Last Updated On timestamp indicating the last successful update.

• Structured Data Source Handling

  • Uses supported-countries.json to track which countries are supported (i.e., have startups registered on Startupranking).
  • Script logic “crunches” raw ranking data into structured lists used in the README and country files.

• Open-source Repository Layout

  • README.md – main listing and documentation.
  • countries/ – country-wise startup listings.
  • supported-countries.json – machine-readable list of supported countries.
  • pre-readme-content.txt and post-readme-content.txt – template fragments to build the dynamic README.
  • LICENSE – license file (open-source terms).
  • .gitignore – standard Git configuration.

• Dynamic README Generation

  • README is programmatically generated, combining template files with live data.
  • Includes a contents section and a data freshness timestamp.

• Inspired by awesome-* Ecosystem

  • Follows conventions of popular “awesome lists” (curated, topic-focused, GitHub-native).

Data Source

• Primary data source: Startupranking.
• All rankings and country/startup associations are derived from Startupranking’s listings.

Pricing

This is an open-source GitHub repository and directory list. There is no pricing or paid plan; usage and access are free, subject to the project’s LICENSE.