Deutscher Startup Monitor 2025 (Startup-Verband)

Summary

• The study surveyed 1,846 startup founders and key executives across Germany to track trends in the startup ecosystem.p.11
• 39.8% of founders view Germany as a more attractive startup location than the US, while 61.2% rank it ahead of European peers.p.6
• Venture capital investment into German startups reached €5.4 billion by late September 2025, with an estimated full-year forecast of around €8 billion.p.43
• Capital invested into German DefenseTech startups surged to €888.7 million in the first nine months of 2025, compared to just €1.3 million in 2020.p.27
• 45.1% of startups consider artificial intelligence to be a core component of their product.p.28
• The share of female founders in Germany slightly recovered to 19.8%, up from 18.8% in the previous year.p.19

Key insights

1. Germany ranks 18th globally in venture capital investment volume relative to GDP, trailing behind the US and European neighbors like the UK and France.p.44
2. Corporate-startup collaborations continue to decline, with the share of startups partnering with established corporates dropping from 71.8% in 2020 to 56.0% in 2025.p.37
3. DefenseTech is seeing record capital inflows, with 1.7% of startups catering primarily to military clients and 24.1% offering dual-use applications.p.6
4. Although 11.0% of startups meet strict objective DeepTech criteria, 30.6% of founders self-identify as operating a DeepTech business.p.31
5. The share of startups identifying with the Green Economy fell to 44.0% from 48.1% in the prior year, even though 38.8% now track sustainability via explicit KPIs.p.30
6. Public funding remains the most widely used external financing source, utilized by 45.0% of German startups, with grants and stipends like EXIST leading the way.p.35
7. Bootstrapping is on the rise as 22.3% of startups rely solely on self-funding, up from 19.2% in 2024.p.40
8. German founders express strong dissatisfaction with digital sovereignty (78.9% rating it low) and the level of digitalization in public administration (81.0% rating it low).p.57
9. 50% of AI startups in Germany demand major simplifications to the European AI Act, while 11% advocate for its total repeal.p.59
10. Founder willingness to start another company has declined over two years from 89.6% in 2023 to 78.3% in 2025.p.49