Germany is losing its appeal as a startup location for particularly successful founders. Only 47 percent of founders of German unicorns would currently start up here again. Almost a quarter, or 24 percent, would choose the USA. 12 percent prefer another EU country, and another 12 percent would start up elsewhere in the world. At the same time, only 29 percent expect Germany to be a more attractive location for tech companies in a year than it is today. 71 percent even somewhat rule out this possibility (59 percent) or definitely rule it out (12 percent).
These are the results of a survey by the startup initiative Get Started of the digital association BitkomSeventeen founders of German unicorns who are still active in management provided their assessments for the study. Bitkom currently lists 27 German unicorns. These are non-listed startups valued at one billion euros or more.
Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst commented:
"Founders are professional optimists, and their critical assessments of Germany as a startup location should make us sit up and take notice. We must create conditions in Germany that offer young tech companies the best conditions for growth."
The most important demand of founders from politicians is a comprehensive reduction in bureaucracy (76 percent), so that more time and resources are available for the further development of the company and its products, for example, for internationalization. 41 percent want further harmonization of the EU single market to facilitate entry into new markets. 35 percent want fully digitalized visa procedures to make it easier to attract foreign skilled workers from outside the EU. Another 35 percent see a need for better access to institutional growth capital in Germany.
And there's clearly room for improvement in another area: Not even half of those surveyed (41 percent) feel they are valued as founders in Germany. Conversely, 35 percent say they don't perceive any appreciation.
Bitkom has made the complete results of the survey available on its website.
