How 2021 went for founders

After poor figures for 2020, start-ups returned to pre-crisis levels last year. Similar figures are also forecast for the current financial year.

Last year, the Start-up Monitor of the German promotional bank KfW still delivered shocking figures: 68,000 fewer people became self-employed in 2020, the number of full-time start-ups fell by twelve percent and reached its lowest point since the start of the survey - even if the figures apply not only to young technology-driven companies, but to start-ups as a whole. Things look very different for 2021. "Start-up activity in Germany has overcome the coronavirus crisis and is back to pre-crisis levels in 2021," says Fritzi Köhler-Geib, Chief Economist at KfW. "The recovery is very encouraging, and start-up activity is now younger, more female and more digital. However, we are at a very low level due to the long-term downward trend."

In 2021, 607,000 start-ups were founded by 70,000 people - that's 13% more than in 2020. Nevertheless, many founders had to give up last year due to the coronavirus pandemic: 38% of the dropouts were related to the coronavirus pandemic, compared to 56% in 2020.

The proportion of female founders has also risen considerably. 257,000 women realized their business ideas in 2021, 25% more than in the previous year. Overall, the proportion of female founders is 42%, compared to 38% in 2020. Among founders, the increase was five percent.

Age is also striking: never before since the start of the survey have founders been as young as in 2021. The average age at the time of founding was 35. Founders aged between 18 and 29 were most frequently represented, while the proportion of 40 to 49-year-olds decreased the most compared to the previous year. According to the authors of the Start-up Monitor, the main reason for this is that older people with families are less willing to take the risk of starting a business.

The KfW Start-up Monitor is based on data from 50,000 randomly selected Germans. Start-up founders are people who work full-time or part-time, are newly founded or have taken over a start-up and are self-employed or run a business.