Hamburg Startup Monitor 2026 (Startup-Verband)

Summary

• Hamburg has 1,540 active startups, making it the third-largest urban startup ecosystem after Berlin and Munich.p.3
• Hamburg recorded 203 startup foundings in 2025, an increase of 26% after three weak years.p.5
• 44% of Hamburg startups were financed with external capital (39% nationwide).p.3
• Since 2015 around 3 billion euros have flowed to Hamburg, versus 12 billion in Munich and 38 billion in Berlin.p.3
• More than one in five Hamburg startups (22%) can be classified as GreenTech (Germany: 16%).p.3
• 56% of Hamburg startups rate the investment climate as poor, against 36% in Berlin.p.26
• Hamburg startups attract only 0.3% of regional GDP in startup investment in the international comparison.p.25

Key insights

1. Of 22,511 active startups up to 10 years old in Germany, 1,540 are based in Hamburg, or 82.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.p.6
2. Hamburg ranks 6th per capita with 82.5 startups per 100,000 inhabitants, behind Munich (114.3) and Berlin (114.2).p.7
3. The number of German unicorns rose from 11 to 34 since the end of 2020, with 1KOMMA5° based in Hamburg.p.10
4. Hamburg has 23% female founders, above the national average, with 33% mixed teams and 13% female teams.p.14
5. VC is used by only 23% of Hamburg startups, in line with the federal average, against 37% in Munich and 43% in Berlin.p.22
6. 49% of Hamburg founders rate the city as attractive for international talent (Germany: 40%).p.3
7. 66% of Hamburg startups want more on-site events, against only 36% in Berlin.p.3
8. Almost 9 of 10 Hamburg founders want to build another company after their current startup.p.28