A study found 496 particularly innovative companies in Germany. Munich is home to more innovators than any other city. Bavaria leads the country rankings.
The business magazine brand eins called on 25,000 experts to nominate and evaluate Germany's most innovative companies. The ranking includes 496 innovators in Germany—285 large and 211 small to medium-sized companies.
With 64 innovators, Munich leads the Germany-wide ranking. Berlin follows in second place (63), followed by Hamburg (36), Frankfurt am Main (23), Cologne (15), Düsseldorf (13), Stuttgart (9), Bonn (8), Jena, and Aachen (5 each).
Who's who of the Munich startup scene
The list of major companies among Munich's innovators includes DAX-listed companies Allianz, BMW, and Siemens. International companies with German headquarters in Munich, such as Amazon, Fujitsu, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, and Tesla, are also on the list, as are Munich-based companies such as Rohde & Schwarz, MAN, and Osram—and even the Munich public utility company.
The list of small to medium-sized companies reveals the innovative power of the Munich startup scene. It includes names such as Adnymics, Bragi, Celonis, eGym, Franka Emika, Hyve, Kinexon, Polar Star, Ryte, Scalable Capital, Stylefruits, Tado, Testbirds and TiramizooThe two Munich-based Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied and Integrated Security (AISEC) and for Embedded Systems and Communications (ESK) also made it into the ranking.
Munich Mix as a model for success
A look at the industry distribution of the award-winning companies reveals a significantly higher diversity among Munich's innovators than in the next-ranked cities: The award-winning Munich companies come from 16 industries. In the next cities, Berlin and Hamburg, the innovators each come from only 14 industries, and in fourth-place Frankfurt am Main, only 11. The oft-cited "Munich mix" seems to have secured the Bavarian capital's victory.
Every second Bavarian innovator comes from Munich
The ranking of the federal states is even more striking than that of the cities: Bavaria leads the ranking with 130 innovators, far ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia (84) and Baden-Württemberg (74). Berlin ranks fourth. Almost every second Bavarian innovation driver comes from Munich.
