For the DSM 2022, 1,976 startups were surveyed, with most of them based in Berlin (19.1 percent) and Munich (8.0 percent). The two leading German startup hubs are described in the report as “real hotspots” and used as a benchmark for the entire German startup scene. Beyond these, according to the study, a whole range of other successful founder ecosystems have developed.
First, some good news: German founders are by and large quite satisfied with their startup ecosystem: 67.7 percent rate it as good or very good. In Munich, even 72.4 percent are satisfied with the ecosystem, in Berlin 81.0 percent.
Startups employ an average of 18.4 employees and plan 9.2 new hires. Munich startups have 42.1 employees on average, more than double that, and plan 15.8 new positions. Startups from the capital have 44.2 employees and want to create 19.8 additional positions. The high number of planned new hires is contrasted with an increasingly acute shortage of skilled workers: 34.5 percent of those surveyed cite the difficulty of finding suitable staff as a central challenge. In the previous two years, this was still 26.6 percent and 17.0 percent respectively.
Many green startups surveyed in DSM
On average, startups currently need 3.1 million euros in external capital. Three quarters of the startups surveyed finance themselves through personal savings, just under half receive government support. Fewer than one third are supported by business angels, just under one quarter by family and friends, and not even every fifth startup has received venture capital. Startups financed by business angels as well as VC-backed companies are by far largely satisfied with their investors: 81.5 percent are (very) satisfied with their business angels, 76.8 percent with their VC providers.
A large proportion of the surveyed startups pursue sustainability as a business objective: 46 percent see themselves as part of the green economy. 61 percent want to combine ecological sustainability and growth. Franziska Teubert, managing director of the Startup Association, says:
“Founders and their startups significantly shape the economy of tomorrow. They show us that economic responsibility and technological progress are not contradictions, but go hand in hand.”
