Why digital nomads are turning cities and villages around the world into new venture hubs?

Entrepreneurship has acquired its most valuable quality: absolute freedom of movement. Office walls have given way to a boundless digital space where the only necessary resource is a reliable internet connection. Visa stamps no longer determine business opportunities; the real boundaries now lie in the minds of those who have not yet dared to break free from traditional corporate thinking.

The office routine and attachment to one place have given way to a generation of entrepreneur-wanderers or digital nomads who build multimillion-dollar companies while living out of a suitcase. This is not just a fashionable way of life or an escape from corporate culture; it is a powerful economic force that is reshaping the global business landscape, transforming quiet resort towns and forgotten villages into vibrant centers of innovation and venture capital.

In this article, we'll explore why digital nomads are turning cities and villages around the world into new venture hubs.

Who are digital nomads, and why is the number of such specialists growing?

A digital nomad is not just a remote worker. This is a specialist or founder who deliberately chooses a mobile lifestyle and builds a product for the global market. In the US, one in ten workers already considers themselves digital nomads; the share has grown since the pandemic, and a significant portion do so without formal permission from their employer, which creates legal risks for companies and accelerates the reassembly of corporate remote work policies.

Overall, estimates vary, but the conservative range is 40–80 million people in 2025; about 18 million of them are from the US. Age — usually around 30–36 years old. Incomes are widely distributed, but almost half of the nomads' households earn $75,000 a year.

Countries have adjusted: 50 countries have already launched digital visas and special regimes for remote workers and founders from Portugal and Malta to the UAE, Costa Rica, and Thailand. The conditions vary: minimum income, health insurance, and sometimes the ability to take a family.

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How new hubs emerge: infrastructure, visas, community

1. Entry rules and understandable bureaucracy.

Estonia led the way back in 2014, launching e-Residency: today the country has more than 126,500 e-residents and over 36,000 companies created by them. For entrepreneurs, this is a quick, fully online process for registering a business in the EU.

2. Affordable living and the internet without surprises.

Lisbon, Chiang Mai, Medellin, Playa del Carmen — these cities have coliving, coworking, schools, relocation services, stable internet, and air travel.

3. Live communities and events.

Madeira became a symbol: the "village of digital nomads" provided a constant stream of customers for cafes, rentals, coliving spaces, and spawned new services (workspaces, travel agencies, etc.). Early estimates of the effects in the media reached up to €1.5 million per month in turnover on the island, and academic and consulting analyses confirm the sustained benefits for the private sector.

What this brings to economies

For cities and regions, digital nomads mean months of rent, subscriptions to services, steady spending at cafes and on local services, and also opening IPs/companies, taxes, and launching educational and tech initiatives. In Chiang Mai, researchers are seeing a rise in demand for local goods and knowledge, a flow of expertise, and higher tax revenues than from tourist visits. At the same time, the literature honestly discusses the flip side: the risk of gentrification and pressure on rent. 

The trend is also noticeable in the UK: about 165,000 Britons already live and work as digital nomads abroad, collectively earning £5.2 billion a year, and the number is growing.

Where new venture points are formed, and under what conditions

Note: Visa requirements change; check official pages before applying.

The Madeira case: how the island became a global hub

A systematic approach to attracting nomads

The Digital Nomads Madeira Islands initiative has created a simple and effective funnel: a specialized website, a simplified application process, and a structured onboarding with housing and coworking access as part of a single package.

This is drastically different from the spontaneous development of nomadic communities in other locations and demonstrates the possibilities of a proactive approach by regional authorities.

Event ecosystem as the basis of the community

Weekly professional meetups, educational excursions, and specialized networking with local entrepreneurs and municipal representatives have created a solid foundation for forming long-term business relationships.

The events calendar includes not only informal meetings, but also serious professional conferences, tax workshops, and seminars on international law for startups.

New business models for community service

Specialized coliving spaces, logistics services for nomads, international microschools for children, and specialized agencies for visa processing and tax planning have emerged. This entire ecosystem arose organically to serve the needs of the community and created hundreds of new jobs for the local population.

Measurable economic results

Early public estimates of the economic effect reached €1.5 million per month in additional turnover, and academic reviews confirm stable benefits for the island's private sector. It is important that these effects are stable and not dependent on seasonal fluctuations, which are typical for traditional tourism.

Two growth models: organic vs institutional

Chiang Mai: organic development from the bottom up

Chiang Mai, Thailand, is a model of a naturally formed community with a high density of coworking spaces, affordable living costs, and a rich events calendar. Research records a positive contribution to the local economy through increased consumption and knowledge transfer, but points to the importance of balancing the interests of nomads and the local labor market.

The advantage of the organic model is its naturalness and self-sustaining development. The disadvantage is the difficulty in managing negative externalities and the lack of systematic planning.

Lisbon/Madeira: Institutional response from above

The Portuguese model demonstrates a quick institutional response: specialized visa programs, work with the housing market, and an emphasis on "soft" services for families with children. Strengths are in the portal government decisions and the maturity of European infrastructure.

The challenges are related to local social tensions surrounding the rise in rental prices and the processes of touristification of historic city districts.

Transforming the venture ecosystem

New models of project sourcing

Investors are increasingly gathering their pipeline of projects at event series in Lisbon, Bali, and Chiang Mai, rather than in traditional offices in Silicon Valley or the City of London. Scouting for talented founders is shifting from formal structures to informal professional communities.

This leads to democratization of access to venture capital and a decrease in the role of geographical proximity to traditional financial centers.

Distributed teams as an architectural principle

A modern cap table might look like this: the founder works from Madeira, the CTO is from Vilnius, and the development team is spread across three time zones. Legal structures, taxation, and corporate governance issues become an architectural task that needs to be addressed at the earliest stage of a company's development.

Risks and methods of their minimization

Legal compliance in the era of mobility

"Working from another country" without notifying the employer is a real legal risk that affects 36% of nomads in the US. Startups and corporations need to develop clear policies: determine which countries they can work in, how to properly file taxes and social security payments, and which jurisdictions are prohibited due to sanctions or information security requirements.

Social sustainability and local communities

The pressure on the rental market and local services is a proven fact, especially in popular areas of Lisbon, Bali, and some areas of Mexico. Hubs that survive the initial hype and become sustainable in the long term are the places where local authorities and nomadic communities discuss reasonable quotas, fair tax regimes, and support mechanisms for local residents in advance.

Psychological challenges of a mobile lifestyle

A pretty picture on social media easily masks chronic jet lag, social isolation, and burnout. The solutions include predictable rhythms (minimum 6-12 weeks per location), creating "home" rituals regardless of geography, participating in mentoring groups and psychological support programs.

Information security of distributed teams

Working from various jurisdictions requires a serious approach to VPN policies, mobile device management (MDM) systems, access control, and working with clients' personal data and financial information.

Practical guide: Launching in a new location in three weeks

First week: technical preparation

Obtain a visa or find a legal basis for staying in the country, rent a place with a full-fledged workspace and reliable internet, connect a local eSIM for mobile communication, and purchase a pass for one of the city's leading coworking spaces. It is critically important to check the latency (delay) to your main markets – this can significantly affect real-time customer service.

Second week: building a professional network

Choose 2-3 thematic meetups per week that correspond to your industry or functional role, introduce yourself on Slack, Telegram, or Discord channels of the local community, and schedule 5-7 informal coffee meetings with people from your professional field (growth, data science, product management, fundraising).

Don't try to cover everything at once; it's better to establish deep connections with a few key people than to superficially get to know dozens.

Third week: first business results

Test advertising creatives and pricing policies for local demand, find a contractor to solve "here and now" tasks (product localization, technical support for customers in the local language), organize a product demonstration for potential investors or customers that the local community has introduced you to.

Financial planning for nomadic activities

Housing and workspaces

In popular hubs (Lisbon, Chiang Mai, Playa del Carmen), coworking spaces are comparable in price to rent in central areas, but provide additional value in the form of flexibility and a ready-made professional community. A coworking pass usually costs about the same as 5-7 lunches at a good restaurant – it's often cheaper than buying additional equipment for a home office.

Transportation costs

The main expenses are flights between locations, not daily mobility. Plan your moves in quarterly cycles, not on the principle of "a new city every week". This not only saves money but also increases productivity.

Professional services

Accounting and visa issues are inevitable expenses when living a mobile lifestyle. Look for local law firms with experience working with startups and international clients – they often offer more flexible and cost-effective solutions than large international consulting companies.

Who is the nomadic business model suitable for

Ideal candidates

Founders of companies with initially global hypotheses are fintech, SaaS solutions, artificial intelligence products, and creative industries. Teams with a developed process culture, where all communication is documented, and synchronous meetings are dosed and effective. Investor scouts and network operators of ecosystems who seek out projects and talent through professional communities.

Model limitations

The nomadic approach is not suitable for products that are critically tied to physical infrastructure in a specific country, or for teams that require a daily office and constant synchronization of all participants.

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Forecasts of development: a look at 2-3 years

Normalization of remote-first approaches

The proportion of nomads will continue to grow, and companies will shift from a policy of "turning a blind eye to violations" to a conscious regulation of the issue of "where our employees can work". This will require serious work from the legal and HR departments.

New generation visas

Specialized modes will appear for startups and intellectual property owners with transparent taxation and simplified administration. The number of such programs has already exceeded 50 and continues to grow.

Urban planning evolution

Cities will seek a balance between the economic benefits of the influx of nomads and the negative impact on the housing rental market and local services. This will lead to the introduction of special rules for rent, tax regimes, and quota systems.

Specialized services ecosystem

Insurance, accounting, compliance, children's educational programs, medical clinics, banking products: all of these are being transformed into a "subscription ecosystem" tailored to the needs of mobile professionals in key hubs.

Digital nomads aren't about postcards from the tropics. This is about a new way to build companies: testing markets faster, launching cheaper, and hiring more freely around the world. Where stable internet, clear rules, and active communities meet, real entrepreneurial density emerges, and with it, new venture points on the map.

If you are the founder and see the next location as a "destination", try to view it as the next market. This is how those who are already building "borderless" companies operate.