Growth companies
The number of start-ups is rising sharply despite the crisis
Increased interest rates and cautious investors have plunged German start-ups into a financing crisis. At least when it comes to start-ups, things are now looking up. University towns are right at the top.
Despite difficult financing conditions for founders, significantly more start-ups are emerging in Germany. Last year, 2,766 growth companies were founded, around 11 percent more than the previous year (2,498), as data from the startup association shows.
“The current figures are a strong signal for Germany as a business location,” says deputy chairman of the board Helmut Schönenberger. According to the startup association, the number of start-ups has recovered from previous declines almost nationwide. A good fifth of the start-ups (618) were in the software sector. This is where the boom in artificial intelligence can be seen.
With the increase in start-ups, the 2022 level was slightly exceeded, but the peak figure in 2021 with almost 3,200 new start-ups was missed amid the digitalization boom in Corona times. At the same time, the association has observed an increasing number of bankruptcies since 2021. In the current economic downturn, online retailers are particularly affected.
Heidelberg is ahead in terms of start-ups per capita
While most of the growth companies in 2024 were once again founded in metropolises such as Berlin (498), Munich (203) and Hamburg (161), research-related locations also shone: measured in terms of start-ups per 100,000 inhabitants, Heidelberg was just ahead of Munich and with a value of 13.5 Berlin. In Heidelberg, there have been many start-ups around the university for years, according to the study, for which the analysis company Startupdetector evaluated commercial register data.
Aachen, Darmstadt and Potsdam are also university cities in fourth to sixth place. This underlines the importance of locations close to universities, “which, alongside the international hotspot Berlin, increasingly represent Germany’s second model of success.”
Recovery from deep crisis
German start-ups benefited from a surge in digitalization and low interest rates during the pandemic – delivery services, for example, experienced a boom. But when interest rates rose along with inflation and economic concerns grew, investors held back: Investments in start-ups collapsed in 2023, and many start-ups cut jobs.
According to the development bank KfW and the auditing firm EY, there are signs of a recovery in money for start-ups this year.
dpa
Source: Stern
