Record Start-up Year in Germany

Last year proved to be a record year for new start-ups in Germany. According to a new report published by the German Startup Association in partnership with Startupdetector, 3,568 new start-ups were established in 2025. 

This represents a 29 percent increase on the previous year and higher even that the previous record year of 2021 – previously considered an outlier as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Start-up numbers were up in almost all federal states, with growth particularly robust in the states of Bavaria (46 percent year-on-year increase), North Rhine-Westphalia (33 percent increase) and Saxony (56 percent increase). Germany’s flourishing start-up scene witnessed strong growth in the AI, greentech and deeptech sectors, where Berlin and Munich have emerged as leading hubs. 

Berlin remains the country’s per capita start-up leader, with 619 new start-ups (25 percent increase) being created in the German capital in 2025 – equivalent to 16.8 start-ups per 100,000 inhabitants. Munich leads the city ranking with 19.3 start ups per 100,000 inhabitants. Research-oriented cities – including Aachen, Potsdam, Darmstadt, and Karlsruhe – with excellent academic and innovation cluster infrastructure also number among the country’s top start-up locations.   

More than one in four of all new start-ups in the past year use AI as a key part of their business model activities (compared to 18.3 percent in 2024). The software sector recorded the largest increase with 853 new start-ups, followed by the medicine sector with 428 new companies. 

Start-ups that stood out in 2025 include defense tech and AI firm Helsing which secured EUR 600 million in series D financing. Artificial intelligence start-up Black Forest Labs also drew attention with a USD 300 million funding round, with AMBOSS in the health sector raising EUR 240 million in new investment.