Baden-Württemberg: Why the election will also decide the future of start-ups

The parties have plans to provide even better support for start-ups in the state. This could raise the location to a new level. However, representatives of the scene are concerned that this will not work.

The election on March 14 in Baden-Württemberg will also be an election about the future of the start-up region BW. This is because the parties are entering the election campaign with very different concepts in some cases, which leads to questions: How have things been going so far - and what could things look like in the Ländle in the future?

When Adrian Thoma looks back on the past five years, he can certainly give Baden-Württemberg's politics a satisfactory report card. "A lot has happened for start-ups in our state," says the founder and Managing Director of Pioniergeist, who is also a member of the German Start-up Association. "It really was a wake-up kiss for the scene." Behind Pioniergeist is a company builder with which Thoma wants to support young companies and strengthen the start-up location.

However, when Thoma thinks about the future of Baden-Württemberg as a location, the euphoria quickly evaporates. Together with other representatives of the scene, he has founded the political campaign "Start-ups in Baden Württemberg 2021". In it, they call for the visibility of start-ups in the state to be increased, sustainable structures to be created and cooperation between established companies and young companies to be strengthened.

Because Thoma still sees enough obstacles in Baden-Württemberg. "To put it in start-up language, we have only received our start-up funding from politicians so far," he says. "Now we are faced with the question of whether we will remain at this level - or whether we will receive follow-up financing." Translated, this means that there are many good approaches and if they are not pursued further, the start-up ecosystem in Baden-Württemberg is in danger of stagnating.

For Thoma, one of the good approaches is the Start-up BW Pree Seed program. The federal state has provided 14 million euros for the financing program. It is intended to flow into early-stage start-ups that cannot yet hope to attract private investors. "The program went so well that the money was quickly exhausted," says Thoma. "We absolutely have to extend it." Thoma would not only like more money, but would also like another fund for follow-up financing for start-ups.

Not always looking to Silicon Valley

Professor Dr. Alexander Brem has also joined Thoma's campaign. He is the Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research at the University of Stuttgart and holds the Chair of Entrepreneurship in Technology and Digitalization, which is supported by the Daimler Fund in the Stifterverband. "It's not always about looking to Bavaria, Berlin or even Israel and Silicon Valley," he says. "Baden-Württemberg has excellent start-ups, enterprising start-up promoters and active family offices - but hardly anyone knows about them. The key is to build on existing strengths and pass the ball around."

According to Brem, there is a lack of transparency in Baden-Württemberg. "Founders often still don't know where they can get what support," he says. Too often, people still think in terms of smaller ecosystems, such as individual institutions or cities like Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. "Start-ups still don't have a proper lobby." Brem would therefore like to see a start-up advisor from the ranks of the state parliament or a representative from the state government who promotes the topic on a non-partisan basis and is available as a contact person.

An overview of the parties' key demands

And the politicians? The digital association Bitkom wrote to all parties currently represented in the state parliament and asked them about their plans for start-ups. With the exception of the AfD, all parties responded to the association.

The Greens want to increase state funding for start-up venture capital in order to attract additional private capital and are thus following one of the central demands of the "Start-ups in Baden Württemberg 2021" campaign. In particular, the party wants to support GreenTech and social entrepreneurship. They also want to ensure that start-ups are given greater consideration in public procurement processes.

The CDU wants to create a single point of contact for company founders. It also wants to give start-ups greater consideration in public procurement. The party also wants there to be a new start-up fund, which would also use some of the funds to create incentives for climate-neutral business.

The SPD wants to start promoting start-ups at school, an idea that both Thoma and Brem support. The comrades also want to provide more financial support for start-ups, for example by setting up a new venture capital fund. However, the Social Democrats are against greater consideration in public procurement because this is not possible under public procurement law anyway.

The FDP cites the "bureaucratic hurdles and inadequate financing options" for start-ups as major weaknesses. According to the Liberals, there should be more "economic freedom zones" in which start-ups in particular are given "opportunities for rapid development". This should also attract more venture capital to Baden-Württemberg.

The Left Party also relies heavily on public funding. In order to promote start-ups, the state government should promote affordable housing and daycare places - the provision of venture capital, on the other hand, is not a task for state policy.

If most of the parties' demands make it into a coalition agreement, this could benefit the start-up location. "Baden-Württemberg is already a start-up hotspot in Germany. The state can score points above all with its close cooperation with its universities and the many strong medium-sized and large industrial companies," says Wolfgang Hackenberg, Bitkom state spokesperson for Baden-Württemberg. "State policy is of crucial importance when it comes to supporting start-ups."