Saxony Startup Monitor 2025 (Startup-Verband)

Summary

• Saxony has 698 active young growth companies, concentrated in the hotspots Dresden and Leipzig.p.4
• 96% of Saxon founders rate proximity to universities positively, and 65% received university support, both above the national average.p.4
• 68% of Saxon startups focus on B2B customers, well above the national share.p.4
• Saxon startups draw on state funding (73%) and venture capital (27%).p.4
• Saxony has two unicorns, Staffbase and Sunfire, each valued above one billion euros.p.2
• Sunfire, Staffbase and Wandelbots each closed large rounds of over 50 million euros in recent years.p.25
• Saxony scores poorly on attracting foreign talent, with language requirements (22%) and societal openness (20%) rated positively by only a minority.p.4

Key insights

1. Dresden has 45 active startups per 100,000 inhabitants (rank 18) and Leipzig 38 (rank 23) among 56 cities, well behind Munich at 117.p.10
2. 87% of Saxon startup founders hold an academic degree, and 69% of them studied in Saxony.p.14
3. Saxony's share of female founders is 17%, slightly below the German average of 19%.p.16
4. 68% of Saxon startups focus on business customers, against 56% nationwide.p.20
5. 44% of Saxon startups have taken on external capital, more than in Baden-Württemberg (34%) or North Rhine-Westphalia (31%).p.23
6. 32% of Saxon startups wish for venture capital, compared with 48% in Berlin and 38% in Munich.p.27
7. 29% of Saxon startups employ ten or more people (Germany: 26%).p.28
8. 82% of Saxon startups expect a positive development until the end of 2025 (Germany: 80%).p.33
9. Around 14% of Saxon startups can be classified as DeepTech (Germany: 11%).p.34
10. Only about 21% of employees at Saxon startups come from abroad, against 31% nationwide.p.36