Linkedin: Berlin no longer the most popular city for employees in start-ups

Linkedin is now analyzing its data for the fourth time to select the ten most attractive start-ups for employees. Three fintechs are new to the list and Berlin loses its title as the most popular city.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most exciting employer in the country? The answer is surprising, as the start-up that recently made headlines mainly due to poor working conditions is Gorillas. The 10-minute delivery service is at least in first place in Linkedin's 2021 ranking of the most attractive start-ups for employees in Germany. Lilium is close behind, losing its first place from last year.

It is followed by Personio, which makes it into third place for the second time. But there are also some newcomers, including three from the financial sector: fintech Tomorrow, corporate credit card specialist Moss and neobroker Scalable Capital are among the top ten start-ups. However, N26, which was still in second place in 2020, is not included.

For the evaluation, Linkedin takes into account the interaction of its members and analyzes various aspects such as growth in the number of employees, interactions on the Linkedin company page or employee profiles as well as interest in job offers from the start-up. Only start-ups with more than 50 employees that have been in existence for a maximum of seven years and are based in Germany are included.

"The list of top start-ups reflects trends from the coronavirus pandemic"

Jakob Schulz, Linkedin.

It is clear that Berlin is not the most attractive city for everyone: Last year, six of the top ten start-ups were still based in Berlin, now there are four with Gorillas, Moss, Forto and Tier Mobility. This puts the capital on a par with Munich, where Personio, Finn, Recup and Scalable Capital can be found. Although a study has just revealed that Munich is the most expensive city to start a business. However, it has the advantage that companies there pay particularly high salaries, which is likely to attract top talent in particular.

"The list of top start-ups reflects trends from the coronavirus pandemic," says Jakob Schulz from Linkedin. "Food delivery, finance, mobility and sustainability have become more important to many people during the crisis," explains the editorial director for news in the DACH region.

Start-ups on a growth trajectory scored well

Last year, YFood Labs, Contentful, Sennder, Grover, Coachhub and Moonfare were still among the top ten start-ups. This year, they did not make it into the ranking. The study also shows that start-ups that are currently growing are included in the ranking, which explains the dynamic nature of the list. Gorillas was only founded in 2020, but requires many drivers for its delivery service and has raised several million euros in venture capital in a short space of time.

It also became a unicorn this year, as did Scalable Capital and Personio. In this context, the Munich-based company announced its intention to double the number of employees to 1,000. This also applies to Moss, which announced its expansion into further countries and the doubling of its workforce with its financing round completed in August. So it's no wonder that both companies are looking and being looked for. Lilium went public via Spac in December and is growing. Recup has just announced that it is testing its sustainable packaging for food and drink in cooperation with Lieferando.