Skip to main content
Logo of Startup City Hamburg

Start your business in Hamburg

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, the fourth largest economy in the world, and has an excellent infrastructure to promote innovative projects. With Europe's third largest seaport, an active airport and a prime location at the crossroads between Scandinavia and Central Europe, Hamburg remains an innovation hub for making business.

Hafencity and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
© Mediaserver Hamburg / Timo Sommer

Successful business made in Hamburg

Hamburg is a major international trade, transport and services hub and one of the most important locations for industry in Germany. Global players such as Airbus, Beiersdorf (Nivea), HapagLloyd, Montblanc, Otto and Tchibo are located here.

Tradition meets innovation

Hamburg is an attractive location for growing startups: comprising 96,000 businesses, the services sector is Hamburg’s strongest industry. With a share of approx. 34%, the information and communication segment, including leading advertising and online marketing companies such as Facebook, Facelift, Google, Smaato and Twitter, is particularly important.

© Mediaserver Hamburg / Christian Brandes

City of networks and opportunities

In recent years, the city has cultivated a supportive and inclusive business environment. Startups and scaleups come together in Hamburg and take advantage of the city's rich resources and well-established networks: Various consulting providers, research institutions and cluster initiatives support young companies in building a strong network right from the beginning. Startups can also benefit from a wide range of funding programmes and financing offers.

Scaleup Hamburg, a service offer by Hamburg Invest, seeks to future-proof local businesses by forging partnerships with cutting-edge international Greentech scaleups in order to accelerate the technology uptake in our city. As part of the business development agency of Hamburg, we support international scaleups with our hands-on approach and dedicated professional service which focuses on a successful startup-corporate collaboration.

Why Hamburg? With its strategic location as Germany's hub for mobility, logistics, and renewable energy, Hamburg offers unparalleled opportunities for scaleups to thrive. Its vibrant ecosystem, coupled with robust infrastructure and supportive policies, makes it an ideal destination for companies looking to expand their footprint in Europe.

Quotes

slide 2 of 4

Have you founded a company abroad and are now interested in setting up in Hamburg? Or are you planning to establish a startup in Hamburg and want to move to the northern German metropolis? We have compiled the most important information here. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. We will be happy to help you.

Building and growing your startup in Germany

Working and living in Germany

Good to know before you settle to Hamburg

Contact our Startup Unit for a consultation

Advisory Session for startups:

Book a free startup consultation (by phone or video call on request, 40 minutes) with the Hamburg Invest Startup Unit.