German startups from the fields of e-commerce, software and analytics, FinTech, mobility and health in particular were able to record high investment amounts again in 2018. Berlin is ahead in a comparison of countries, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia in fourth place. In order to further improve the framework conditions in Germany for founders, initiatives such as Get Started are also starting to take off. Get Started recently welcomed its 500th member.
Highest investments in Berlin
In 2018, 4.6 billion euros were invested in German start-ups. So much risk capital has not yet been booked in any year before. This emerges from the start-up barometer of Ernst & Young. 2.64 out of 4.6 billion euros were accounted for start-ups from Berlin. Thus, the federal capital remains the undisputed start-up leader.
Bavaria is in second place with investments of 802 million euros. In the previous year there were still 407 million in the Free State, so that young companies have collected almost twice as much capital there. This is followed by Hamburg (548 million euros) and North Rhine-Westphalia (243 million euros). However, looking at the jump made by NRW compared to the previous year, it can be seen that last year’s investment volume of EUR 96 million has almost tripled.
In Hamburg, investments in start-ups have doubled. The trend shows that Berlin may continue to be the front runner, but must increasingly invest in the attractiveness of the location in order to continue to convince young companies and investors. Because in contrast to the competitors, the amount of investment even dropped slightly. In Cologne, among other things, start-up incubators, such as the launch site, are providing more attractiveness.
Bitkom start-up initiative takes stock: 100 new members in 2018
According to the start-up barometer much of the investment went to e-commerce companies. 1.6 billion euros was invested on e-commerce companies in 2018, followed by Software & Analytics (€ 670 million), Financials (€ 659 million), Mobility (€ 427 million) and Health (316 million).
Not only the start-up barometer from Ernst & Young, but also the digital association Bitkom draws a positive balance with its initiative “Get Started”. According to this, in 2018 100 companies joined the initiative. In total, the group now has 500 companies. According to the press release, PropTech companies such as VRnow and the innovative biotech company Biomes, which offers service of analyzing the intestinal flora, have recently been added. In the energy sector, Envelio is attracting attention, which is committed to digitizing the electricity grid.
Also published on Medium.