More venture capital, easier access to public procurement and more diversity among founders – the startup strategy from July 2022 wanted to tackle the major challenges facing the industry. A survey conducted by Bitkom Research among 203 tech startups in Germany shows that these promises have not yet been fulfilled. Just one percent of the companies surveyed rated the Startup policy of the federal government with "very good," only six percent with "good." In contrast, 22 percent say the startup policy is "poor" and four percent "inadequate." Thirty-nine percent consider it "satisfactory," and 18 percent "adequate."
Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst says:
"With the Startup Strategy, the German government has bundled around 130 individual measures from various ministries, thereby underscoring the importance of startups for Germany as a business location. The mood among startups shows that the pace of implementation of the projects must be increased in the second half of the legislative period. It is important that the implementation of the Startup Strategy is continuously monitored. Indeed, at least the first steps have been taken with a number of important measures, such as employee share ownership."
At the same time, many startups are significantly more skeptical about the situation facing young companies in Germany than they were a year ago. Only 30 percent say the situation has improved in the past two years, compared to 42 percent a year ago. The same number, 30 percent, say the situation has worsened, compared to just 12 percent in 2022. Their assessment of their own situation is significantly more positive. 36 percent say their situation has improved within two years, while only 14 percent see it as worsening.
Improving the startup strategy: What young companies expect
83 percent of startups say they would benefit from more and better funding programs for collaboration between startups and SMEs. The same number expect positive effects from simplified, legally secure access to public contracts. 81 percent consider a digital, cross-agency portal for administrative services helpful. 76 percent support expanding the Future Fund to attract more institutional investors to the venture capital market.
Many startups also hope for support regarding the shortage of skilled workers. 73 percent would benefit from more attractive rules for employee share ownership, and 71 percent from simplified access to qualified workers from outside Europe. According to the study, another 70 percent would benefit from easier and faster company formation. Another 70 percent hope for easier access to public data, for example, with the help of the Data Institute.
