German Startup Monitor 2023 (Startup-Verband)

Summary

• The 11th German Startup Monitor represents 1,825 startups, 4,559 founders and 31,925 employees.p.6
• The share of female founders is only 20.7%, a marginal increase that breaks with the positive trend of previous years.p.21
• 56.3% of startups have received external capital so far, mostly less than €500,000 (43.1%); only 8.7% have raised €10 million or more.p.34
• The share of startups preferring VC financing fell from 44.4% in 2022 to 34.8%.p.35
• The number of unicorns in Germany stands at 33, more than four times the number five years ago, but still far behind the US and Israel.p.8
• In the US, €1,157 per capita was invested in growth rounds of at least €100 million between early 2020 and end of June 2023, and 46.1% of such rounds in Germany come from US investors.p.37
• AI has clear relevance for the business model of 52% of German startups (45% in the previous year), and 82% already use tools such as ChatGPT.p.7

Key insights

1. Average headcount is stable and rises slightly to 18.9 employees, while planned new hires fall to 8.0 (2022: 9.2).p.18
2. Among central challenges, capital (43% vs. 39% in 2022) and cash flow (32% vs. 24% in 2022) gain relevance, while the labour market eases (21% vs. 34% in 2022).p.8
3. The positive ecosystem assessment drops from 68% in 2022 to 58% in 2023.p.7
4. 9 in 10 founders would found again, of whom 83% would do so in Germany again and 17% abroad.p.8
5. 49% of startups received support from universities at founding, and 74% rate it as good or very good.p.9
6. Cooperation between startups and established companies has fallen by 10 percentage points in three years to 61%.p.9
7. Software-as-a-Service accounts for 33.4% of business models, by far the largest share.p.17
8. Information and communication technology dominates the industries with 31.9%, followed by health with 9.2%.p.16
9. Mixed founding teams employ 44% women versus 29% in all-male teams.p.7