The German Startup Monitor 2022 published today identifies key challenges and potentials in the ecosystem. Startups remain stable despite uncertainties. The topic of ecology in particular is gaining in importance and the share of female founders continues to rise.
In the 10th German Startup Monitor, the initiators from the Startup Association see positive signals – such as high and stable employment figures as well as more and more transformative companies in the green economy sector. For the association, courage and determination are now needed on the part of politicians to create the best possible framework conditions. The founders of the association are sending a clear message with their three core demands: finally ensure a practicable form of employee participation, speed up administrative processes and simplify public procurement.
Ten facts from DSM 2022
The crisis is being felt: The declining business climate makes it clear that the crisis has arrived in the ecosystem. With an average of 18.4 employees and 9.2 planned new hires, the start-ups surveyed show themselves to be relatively robust in the current situation.
Ecology is clearly gaining in importance: Ecological sustainability is becoming increasingly important for the DSM start-ups. At 46.0 percent, almost half of the companies classify themselves as part of the Green Economy and want to make a contribution in this area.
The share of female founders continues to rise: More and more women are founding start-ups – their share is now 20.3 percent (2021: 17.7 percent). However, they remain strongly underrepresented and the existing potential is still not being exploited enough.
Shortage of skilled workers continues to worsen: The start-ups surveyed are increasingly naming staff recruitment as a key challenge – the figure has risen continuously over the last two years and now stands at 34.5 percent (2021: 26.6 percent, 2020: 17.0 percent).
Extensive capital needs exist: 67.9 percent of DSM startups have external capital needs in the next twelve months, with an average value of 3.1 million euros. Every fourth start-up has a capital requirement of 2 million euros or more.
Founders still seldom business angels: 14.2 percent of the founders are active as business angels. Among serial founders and those in later phases, the share of business angels is increasing significantly.
Corporate venture capital strengthens expertise and standing: 30.1 percent of VC-financed DSM start-ups also use corporate venture capital. Founders are particularly satisfied with the access to know-how (75.3 percent) and the increase in reputation (66.7 percent).
Politics is also in demand: at 89.9 percent, most start-ups see the acceleration and simplification of administrative processes as the most important factor in strengthening the ecosystem – for larger companies with more than 25 employees, the topic of employee capital participation is clearly in the foreground (91.7 percent).
B2G with room for improvement: 76.1 percent of the startups see the opening and simplification of public procurement as a key measure to strengthen the ecosystem. So far, 14.6 percent of the companies surveyed have received public contracts.
The importance of AI continues to grow: for 45.1 percent of DSM startups, artificial intelligence plays an important role in their business model, followed by the topics of Industry 4.0 (32.5 percent) and IoT (31.0 percent) – the metaverse is already relevant for 12.2 percent.
The detailed German Startup Monitor 2022 is available here as a PDF download
About the Startup Association:
The Startup-Verband has almost 1,200 members and was founded in Berlin in September 2012. The association sees itself as the representative and voice of startups in Germany: It represents the interests, viewpoints and concerns of startups vis-à-vis legislation, administration and the public. It promotes innovative entrepreneurship and wants to bring the startup mentality into society. The association sees itself as a network of start-ups in Germany.
