Leading German cities join forces for Startup-Champs Germany

The agreement opens up excellent opportunities for founders, said Dr Rolf Strittmatter, Managing Director of Hamburg Invest. “Germany’s start-up ecosystem offers enormous potential - from innovative strength to sales markets. Hamburg has kicked off a joint success story with Berlin, Cologne and Munich using the Startup Champs project. It makes the locations tangible and adds impact through the cooperation’s international design. Cross-city activities will give more start-up teams insight the advantages of a location.”  The agreement includes a roadmap for joint projects to market the four start-up centres on both a national and global scale. Networking in local start-up ecosystems is likely to become easier and the flow of information improved. Various initiatives should boost the start-up scene and female entrepreneurship. 

Germany’s four most populous cities account for the lion’s share of the national start-up ecosystem with around 9,000 start-ups and an investment volume of almost EUR 8 billion, according to the Dealroom start-up database. The new agreement offers stakeholders all kinds of opportunities to build on previous collaborations. The business development agencies of the Startup Champs cities are showcasing solutions by various prop-tech start-ups during the Expo Real property fair. The fair is just one of several start-up events in Europe this autumn. The next must-see event is the Web Summit, which gets underway in Lisbon from October 13 to November 16, 2023 followed by the Slush in Helsinki from November 30 to December 1, 2023. Applications from Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne are welcome. Dr Manfred Janssen, Managing Director of KölnBusiness, said: “Cologne gains national and international importance as a start-up location. The annual Startup Champs Germany pitch event, which has been held since 2020 as well as joint activities to promote female entrepreneurship mean we have laid a solid foundation.” Clemens Baumgärtner, Head of the Department of Labour and Economics in Munich, said: “While national competition with Germany’s three other start-up locations, i.e., Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne is important and fruitful, we can benefit even more from a partnership between these locations.”

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