Germany may not have a vibrant startup ecosytem like the Silicon Valley but as one of Europe’s strongest economies it has a very healthy and growing startup ecosystem.
The biggest investor in German startups is High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF), a venture-capital firm which receives about 80 percent of funds from Government. The startup scene is expected to create about 100,000 jobs by 2020.
In a study by Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB), the digital economy makes €3.9b per year in gross revenue – or 4.2 per cent of Berlin’s entire economic output. Ulrich Kissing, CEO of IBB, said: “Every 20 hours, a new internet business is founded in Berlin. This is the best proof of how dynamic Berlin is in this sector.” That translates to 469 startups founded last year.
According to Venturevillage,
“the study by Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) didn’t point to Berlin as the tech startup hub of Germany. While its ratio of 2.8 companies for every 10,000 people is almost three times the national quota, Munich tops that amount with a ratio of 4.4 companies.
Berlin is catching up though, the number of startups founded in the capital has increased by close to 50 per cent since 2008, in comparison to close to 44 per cent in Munich. The next largest German startup hubs are Munich, Frankfurt, Dresden, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg.”
Affordable housing, low-cost office spaces and a growing investor community makes Germany one of the best the go-to places in Europe to kick-startup your new idea.
These are some of the hottest German startups you should know. Popular German companies like SoundCloud (online audio distribution platform) and Wooga (social network game and mobile developer) have recorded millions of users worldwide.
1. Dawanda
DaWanda is a marketplace for gifts and handmade products. You can buy and sell unusual gift ideas, unique products and handmade things. It also functions as a meeting place for artists, designers and creative individuals, buyers and sellers alike.
2. ResearchGate
ResearchGate was built by scientists, for scientists. It started when two researchers discovered first-hand that collaborating with a friend or colleague on the other side of the world was no easy task.
The network was founded in 2008 and five years later, more than 2.9 million researchers are already using it to present themselves and make their research visible.
3. Lieferheld
Lieferheld is a great platform for ordering and paying food online. The User just has to type in his ZIP-Code and gets a list of restaurants in his area. After choosing a meal, the user can pay cash or via online payment. The company is based in Berlin and was founded in November 2010. Lieferheld is part of DeliveryHero.
4. STYLIGHT
STYLIGHT is one of the best places to discover fashion every day. STYLIGHT lets you discover a large selection of more than 5000 fashionable brands and millions of products.
Get inspired by looks created by the community, discover great products from fashionable brands and shop at the best online stores — all in one place.
5. 9flats
9flats is a private community of people renting and letting short term accommodation to each other. The idea is to rent your flat to other travelers whenever you aren’t home for a few days, a few weeks or even a few months. Users can choose from over choose from over 100,000 locations.
6. Trademob
The Berlin based company founded in August 2010 offers a platform for mobile app marketing.
The company leverages tracking and data-driven optimization technologies to help publishers promote their apps more efficiently across over 100 ad networks, including Smaato, Admob and InMobi. Clients include big-name companies such as eBay (Classifieds), Universal Music, Wooga and ICQ.
7. Wunderlist
Wunderlist is one of the easiest way to manage and share your daily to-do lists. Over 5 million people already use Wunderlist to manage tasks, to-do lists, and to get things done. Wunderlist syncs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows and the Web to keep you on top of to-dos from just about any device.
8. Jimdo
Jimdo allows anyone to create a website on a computer, smartphone, or tablet. You can create a customized online presence with a blog and online store.
Profitable since 2009 without venture capital, Jimdo has a passionate team of 170 people in Hamburg, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Shanghai.
9. EyeEm
Pronounced “I am,” EyeEm is a free photo-sharing and discovery app for iPhone & Android. EyeEm constantly learns about user tastes, and recommends albums of similar photos from friends and like-minded people around the world.
The app automatically categorizes similar photos into albums, enabling users to discover places, topics and events, and allowing them to customize their photo feed based on interests. EyeEm received $6M in Series A funding this year.
10. GetYourGuide
Find, compare, and book sightseeing tours, attractions, excursions, things to do and fun activities from around the world. GetYourGuide collects and categorizes all the world’s things to do so you research less and do more.
Available to download for free from the App Store and Google Play, users have a choice of 23,100 offers across 2,200 destinations around the world.
11. Tame
Tame want to take the noise out of your Twitter stream and quickly show you trending topics, popular tweets and your most influential followers/people you follow. It describes itself as a “context search engine for Twitter”.
12. Keeb
Keeeb allows you to clip, collect and organize any valuable content, that you find online. From entire web pages to images, videos and text, while remaining fast, intuitive and clean.
What is the other promising startup in Germany we left out? Share it in the comment box below.
