Last Updated: 25th August 2024
Despite the overdominance of London regarding startups in “Europe” (source : StartupBlink); Berlin has experienced an incredible growth over the last decade and has THE startup hub of Germany. According the to latest EY Barometer, Berlin is way ahead in comparison to other locations in the country.
Recent Startup Success of Berlin have shown that Startups are essential for economic growth; e.g Wefox, Forto, Taxfix, Grover, which as of 2023, have raised over $600M of revenue.
As this 2021 McKinsey Press release mention “German start-up landscape can create 1.4 million new jobs by 2030” which highlight how much Germany believes in its startup economy.
What I do like about Berlin, however, is not the number of Unicorns they have generated but rather the focus on it’s universities and tech transfer offices. With the recent launch of the Germany 1B euros fund for startups, climate tech and deep tech (https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/start-ups-wie-die-bundesregierung-einen-technologischen-mittelstand-schaffen-will/28957290.html) ; universities are core of this fund and as a matter of fact; the TU of Berlin as well as TUM in Munich are well positioned on the European level for that.
IN 2023 I recent that a lot of initiatives around Berlin are about deeptech. Techstars now funding deep tech companies, but also the latest partnership of Silicon Allee with Fraunhofer etc. I do believe that while the last decade we saw grocerie delivery startup; we will interesting deep tech companies coming out of the Berlin Startup Ecosystem!
Another resource for startups is the Science & Startups organization, which provides access to the joint programs and resources of Berlin’s universities. This includes research, infrastructure, incubator space, scientific mentors, access to co-founders, grants, or coaching.
Basically they are taking all spinouts coming our TU Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, and even Charité (for health projects) and helping them to hit the market and grow. There are also a number of funding opportunities available for startups in Berlin. The Berliner Startup Stipendium provides scholarships, coaching, and access to workplaces and co-working spaces for innovative startups. At at recent event I attending at the university; I also learned that they are trying to bring all the ressources of the city and be much more collaborative between each other. See picture below.
IP ownership, as we all know it’s a huge topic in Europe. At TU Berlin, I learned that if you are still enrolled as a student, you own 100% of your IP, if you are a PhD, the university owns of the patent; and if you are a startup, you can negotiate and get the patent for free once you have shown the traction.
In Berlin, Students also get 200k euros to launch their company, which they don’t need to pay back if it fails. That is apparently “unique” in Europe.
Now to finish this article; let’s have a look at key organizations helping entrepreneurs to build and launch companies.
Here is the access to all the reports:
- https://www.ey.com/de_de/forms/download-forms/2024/07/ey-startup-barometer-juli-2024
- https://dealroom.co/reports/europe-tech-update-q1-2024
- https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/start-ups-wie-die-bundesregierung-einen-technologischen-mittelstand-schaffen-will/28957290.html
- https://startup-map.berlin/intro
- Notion database with the players: https://boiled-bat-70e.notion.site/47ebfa63791b4d458ba77cd1d5b39a59?v=6234a1dce4954d19b27ca3ce57f8b24c&pvs=4
- More on: https://www.berlin-partner.de/
- https://www.mckinsey.de/~/media/mckinsey/locations/europe%20and%20middle%20east/deutschland/news/presse/2021/2021-10-26%20entrpreneurship%20zeitgeist%202030/entrepreneurship_zeitgeist_2030_mckinsey_vf.pdf
What is the future of the Berlin Startup Ecosystem ; share it in the comments below!
