Currently, the Study authors 946 fintech startups in Germany. Since the end of 2018, the number of startups has increased by 19 percent. 306 of these are based in the fintech hub of Berlin, 116 in Munich, 115 in Frankfurt, 89 in Hamburg, and 36 in Cologne. In the past two years, 52 new fintechs have been added in Berlin, 20 in Munich, 17 in Hamburg, 15 in Frankfurt, and 5 in Cologne. The study points out that many fintech startups operate in 'stealth mode' during the first 12 months, meaning they do not appear publicly and therefore cannot be recorded.
Venture capital investors injected a total of €2.7 billion into the industry last year. Of this, almost €1.8 billion went to Berlin in 106 rounds, €433 million to Munich in 49 rounds, and Düsseldorf received the third largest sum, with €161 million in four rounds. Fintechs in the banking capital of Frankfurt secured only €42 million in 22 rounds (ranking sixth).
“Berlin’s dominance is less pronounced”
This means that Berlin remains as in previous years Hamburg is the largest fintech location in Germany, ahead of Munich. Hamburg overtakes Frankfurt to third place in the ranking.
“It is striking that Berlin’s dominance in the number of financing rounds has also been lower since the beginning of 2019,”
so Matthias Lais, Managing Director of the Commerzbank innovation subsidiary Main Incubator.
“With a share of 42 percent, Berlin is significantly below the value from last year’s study and even significantly below the 50 percent threshold for the first time ever.”
