This review of the Mexican knowledge-based start-up sector was requested by the Mexican authorities, represented by the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT). It was carried out by the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI). It is in direct continuation of the review of Mexico’s innovation policy which was published by the OECD in 2009; it updates the innovation review’s diagnostics and deepens its analysis of innovative entrepreneurship. The review was also requested in the context of the LACII (Latin American and Caribbean Countries Initiative on Innovation), a high-level policy dialogue on innovation in Latin America, launched in 2010. Ministers in charge of innovation in Latin American countries met in Guanajuato, Mexico in March 2011 and decided to base their dialogue in the future on background studies analysing the actual experience of Latin American countries with various aspects of innovation policy. Hence this report was commissioned as part of this broader effort to feed into the high-level LACII discussions.