Number of start-ups declines

For the first time since 2019, the Startup Association is registering fewer startups than in the previous year. Only the medical sector is bucking the trend.

The number of startups in Germany has declined for the first time since 2019. This is according to the Next Generation Report of the German Startups Association, which the interest group presented together with Startupdetector.

According to the report, 1,508 startups were newly founded in the first half of 2022, which corresponds to a minus of seven percent. In the previous year, there had been 1,618. However, the long-term trend remains positive, with the figure for the first half of the year still 31 percent higher than in 2019.

Berlin and Munich dominate the field of start-ups, with 29 percent of all registered company launches in the two metropolises. The report identifies a positive trend in the medical sector. There have been 195 start-ups there so far this year, 29 more than last year. The sector thus replaces the software industry as the most dynamic startup industry.

"Our report on startup activity shows: More startups - it's not a foregone conclusion," explained Magdalena Oehl, Vice Chair of the Startup Association: "If we want to maintain the positive momentum of the highly innovative startup ecosystem, we need optimal framework conditions for young companies." Among other things, she said, there need to be better regulations for employee participation, more immigration of tech talent and easier ways to spin out of universities.