With the 14th edition of the German Startup Monitor, the Startup Association has once again provided an insightful overview of the ecosystem. The results of the survey of 1,803 founders show that sectors such as AI and deeptech are booming, but this positive trend is by no means reaching all startups.
At 8.0 billion euros, the investment volume until September has already exceeded the total for the whole of 2025 (7.5 billion euros). This is due to a number of particularly large funding rounds, predominantly in the deeptech and defence sectors. Consequently, the number of unicorns valued at over a billion has risen by ten startups to 39. In broader terms, however, the number of funding rounds is around a quarter below the level seen in the record year of 2021. A further decline is particularly evident in first-round funding. 89 per cent of founders are therefore calling for more venture capital from Germany and Europe.
Consequently, the assessment of Germany as a startup location is critical. Only 31 per cent of startup founders now consider Germany to be more attractive than the US, down from 40 per cent last year. Whilst moving abroad is not a consideration for the majority (61 per cent), 24 per cent are keeping this option open. The US remains the number one destination (46 per cent). The planned new company form, ‘EU Inc.’, could provide an incentive to stay. 64 per cent of founders are calling for a fully digital founding process, 57 per cent for the removal of the requirement to use a notary, and 55 per cent for easier expansion into other EU markets.
© Bundesverband Deutsche Startups
The great importance of science and established companies
The particular strength of the startup ecosystem lies in its close ties to the world of science. For 59 per cent of startups, the product stems directly or indirectly from new scientific findings. Around 10 per cent of sthe companies fall within the deeptech sector. Universities play a concrete role in this: 51 per cent of founders have received support from academic or research institutions.
For 53 per cent of startups, artificial intelligence (AI) is now at the heart of their product, up from 45 per cent last year and 39 per cent in 2024. Recent foundings in particular are increasingly relying on generative AI right from the outset. They predominantly target small and medium-sized enterprises and the manufacturing sector. This is evident from the B2B share of startup turnover, which has reached a record high of 77 per cent. On the other hand, the number of startups collaborating with established companies is falling. This figure now stands at just 54 per cent, down from 56 per cent the previous year and 72 per cent in 2020. Only 16 per cent of respondents rate the willingness of established businesses to collaborate as high.
The trend in the labour market is encouraging. Only 15 per cent now regard the search for suitable staff as a major hurdle – two years ago, the figure was 30 per cent. Among scale-ups with at least 50 employees, the effect is even more pronounced, with the figure falling from 56 per cent to 18 per cent. The average number of employees continues to fall slightly to 15.3, compared with 15.8 in the previous year. This is where the impact of AI is making itself felt: thanks to artificial intelligence, software startups can accelerate product development enormously and consequently require fewer staff. Nevertheless, new jobs are being created: 83 per cent plan to take on new staff in the coming twelve months, with teams set to grow by an average of 5.5 people – an increase of 36 per cent.
