In the first six months of this year, 1,500 start-ups were founded nationwide, an increase of 9% compared to the second half of 2024.
After difficult economic times in 2022, this figure continues the positive trend of the last two years and gives hope that the 3,000 startups from 2021 will be topped this year.
The figures were published in the new “Next Generation” report by the German Startups Association and startupdetector.
Precision landing in Hamburg
With 84 new start-ups, Hamburg confirms the number of start-ups from the previous half-year exactly. Saxony accounted for the largest share of the overall increase, up 71%, NRW up 16% and Bavaria up 23%.
In the ranking of federal states, Hamburg can maintain its second place with 4.5 start-ups per 100,000 inhabitants, behind Berlin (6.7) and ahead of Munich (2.6). In the city ranking, Munich is at the top, with Hamburg in 8th place (2024: 7th) of the ten cities with the highest number of start-ups. Smaller research-related cities such as Heidelberg (2), Darmstadt (4) and Aachen (5) also achieved good rankings.
Particularly strong growth in food – software leads the way in terms of overall figures
The food sector saw the strongest percentage increase in new start-ups with a rise of 44%, while start-ups with industrial solutions also grew strongly with an increase of 29%. However, the software sector remains the leader in the ranking of new start-ups with 368 start-ups and an increase of 16%.
Further figures and results from the Next Generation Report can be downloaded here.
