Startups

Leading German cities join forces for Startup-Champs Germany

6 October 2023
Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Munich to promote Germany as a start-up location

Representatives of business development agencies in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Munich are taking their cooperation to the next level and signed Thursday (October 5, 2023) the “Startup Champs Germany Cooperation Agreement” during the Expo Real in Munich, which ended on Saturday. Their declared goal is to raise Germany’s visibility as an international start-up centre.

Agreement to boost founders

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. 

Signatories of Startup-Champs: Stefan Franzke, Manfred Janssen, Clemens Baumgärtner and Rolf Strittmatter, (f. l. to. r.)

9,000 start-ups nationwide - investment volume of EUR 8 billion 

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.”

mm/sb/pb

Sources and further information

Startup City Hamburg

Startup City Hamburg offers an overview of all the start-ups in the city as well as funding and networking opportunities. The platform is a digital single point of contact for Hamburg's start-up ecosystem and raises its visibility both nationally and internationally. The website is the result of a joint initiative by the Ministry of Economics and Innovation, Hamburg Innovation, Hamburg Invest and Hamburg Marketing as well as the Institute for Innovation and Technology (IIT).

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