How 2021 went for founders

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

Last year, the start-up monitor of the German development bank KfW still delivered frightening figures: in 2020, 68,000 fewer people had become self-employed, and the number of full-time start-ups fell by twelve percent, reaching its lowest point since the survey began - even if the figures do not only apply to young technology-driven companies, but to start-ups as a whole. Things are already looking very different for 2021. "Start-up activity in Germany has overcome the corona bend and is back at pre-crisis levels in 2021," says Fritzi Köhler-Geib, chief economist at KfW. "The recovery is very encouraging, plus the 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, there were 607,000 start-ups by 70,000 people - that's 13 percent more than in 2020. Nevertheless, many founders also had to give up last year due to the corona pandemic: 38 percent of the discontinuations had to do with the corona pandemic, compared to 56 percent in 2020.

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

The age is also striking: never since the survey began have founders been as young as they were in 2021. The average age at the time of founding was 35. Founders between the ages of 18 and 29 were most frequently represented, while the proportion of 40 to 49-year-olds decreased the most compared to the previous year. The authors of the Start-up Monitor believe that 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. Founders include people who work full-time or part-time, are newly founded or have taken over a start-up, and are freelancers or run a business.