Germany is losing attractiveness as a startup location among particularly successful founders. Only 47 percent of founders of German unicorns would choose to found again here today. 24 percent would opt for the USA instead. 12 percent prefer another EU country and likewise 12 percent would found elsewhere in the world. At the same time, only 29 percent expect Germany to be a more attractive location for tech companies in one year than it is today. 71 percent rule this out either fairly likely (59 percent) or definitely (12 percent).
These are results from a survey by the startup initiative Get Started of the digital association Bitkom. For the study, 17 founders of German unicorns who are still actively involved in management provided their assessments. Bitkom currently lists 27 German unicorns. These are non-public startups valued at one billion euros or more.
Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst comments:
“Founders are professional optimists; their critical assessments of Germany as a startup location must give us pause. We need to create location conditions in Germany that provide young tech companies with the best growth prospects.”
The most important demand from founders to policymakers is comprehensive deregulation (76 percent) to free up more time and resources for further company and product development, such as internationalization. 41 percent want further harmonization of the EU single market to ease entry into new markets. 35 percent wish for completely digitalized visa procedures to more easily attract foreign skilled workers from outside the EU. Likewise, 35 percent see a need for better access to institutional growth capital in Germany.
And there is apparently a need to catch up in another area: less than half of those surveyed (41 percent) feel appreciated as founders in Germany. 35 percent conversely say they perceive no appreciation.
