The Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria calls on politicians to work towards better financing for startups. The lack of capital is particularly noticeable in international comparison. In 2015, around €800 million in venture capital was invested in Germany, compared to €53 billion in the US during the same period.
"The pressure on our economy to digitize and innovate is increasing. Therefore, young companies with innovative ideas have never been more important as partners for SMEs and industry than today. But they need capital – and that remains scarce in Germany. Especially during the growth phase, more stability in financing is necessary,"
explains IHK President Eberhard Sasse.
Investments in privileged startups should therefore be immediately tax deductible in order to take into account the relatively high financial risk and to make investments and start-ups more attractive in principle.
Incentives for private investors should be increased
The involvement of private investors will also be encouraged. To increase incentives for these investors, the current minimum investment amount in venture capital funds in Germany, from €200,000, is to be reduced to the actual EU threshold of €100,000. In addition, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce advocates also granting the "Invest" subsidy to private investors, which would also allow them to benefit from a federal subsidy of €145,000 for their investment.
Sasse also sees a need for action in public funding policy and in dealing with young companies in public tenders.
"Startups in Germany have so far had virtually no chance of winning public contracts through the procurement process. Better framework conditions are needed here so that new ideas can promote innovation in the public sector. At the same time, we need technology funding that is more closely aligned with the reality of startups than before. It must not be the case that technology projects fail due to rigid definitions, for example, regarding capital resources. Startups must be evaluated differently than SMEs."
said the Chamber of Commerce President.
