Startup Report 2025 (Bitkom)

Summary

• The report is based on a survey of 152 tech startups in Germany conducted by Bitkom Research between calendar weeks 12 and 21 of 2025.p.3
• 47 percent see the general situation for startups as worsened and only 21 percent as improved.p.3
• Bureaucracy (63 percent), sales and customer acquisition (61 percent) and raising capital (52 percent) are the biggest challenges.p.3
• The average venture capital need is €2.5 million, and 79 percent consider it likely to raise this capital within the next two years.p.3
• 82 percent of startups use AI, 63 percent in internal processes and 62 percent in their products.p.3
• The average startup has about 13 employees, and women make up 28 percent on average.p.3
• In 2024, German startups raised around €7.4 billion in 1,407 financing rounds, with 30 percent of the volume coming from the USA.p.11

Key insights

1. 81 percent report that investors have become much more reluctant, rising to 87 percent among startups with an acute capital need.p.12
2. 15 percent of startups fear insolvency within the next twelve months because of the current situation.p.12
3. AI use in startups rose from 38 percent in 2021 to 82 percent in 2025.p.22
4. 63 percent agree that excessive regulation is the reason why products like ChatGPT are not developed in the EU.p.32
5. 74 percent rate bureaucracy reduction as very important.p.33
6. Only 3 percent of founders would not found a startup again, and 63 percent would found again in Germany.p.10
7. 87 percent of German startups say Germany must become more digitally sovereign.p.36
8. 28 percent of startups already offer virtual shares to employees.p.18