Germany's startup ecosystem development policy - Part 1
Germany has one of the most vibrating startup boosters in Europe, with a reputation known for fostering innovation and talent all across the continent.

It produced a number of global success stories including SoundCloud, Zalano and HelloFresh. According to Startup Blink 2020, Germany has the 5th largest entrepreneurship ecosystem in the world, jumping by 4 places compared to 2019. Germany is now the highest ranking country in the EU, and Berlin is the only top ten EU city. This shows the potential and support of the German Government for startup and innovation activities.

Germany has one of the most prolonged and substantial foundations for industry and technology. Concurrently, Germany is a pioneer in the 4th Industrial Revolution with the purpose of not only making internet accessible for everyone in the society, but also adopting technology in the process of automation in a product line or a whole factory. With the strength of being the location of many gigantic manufacturer's factories such as BMW, Opel, Volkswagen, Tesla, ... the application of technology can dramatically increase labor productivity. Therefore, German start-up focuses generally on promoting the country's strengths, which are industry and mechanical engineering.

In addition to industrial strengths and modern technologies, innovative activities in Germany happen in many industries and states, and they always garner a great deal of attention from the Government. Over the past five years, Germany has planned a series of national strategies to promote digital transformation such as: Digital Strategy 2025, Cybersecurity Strategy for Germany 2016, Strategy Work 4.0, 5G Strategy for Germany, Hightech strategy 2025, National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2018, Blockchain strategy of the Federal Government, ... Specially, the Digital Strategy 2025 is the earliest and most generalized long-term strategy. Digital Strategy delineates 10 steps towards the future, including specifically supporting startups and encouraging cooperation between startups and established businesses in the market.

Germany has a diverse ecosystem with a mega hub Berlin, 2 additional top 50 global hubs in Munich and Hamburg, and various emerging cities in the rankings according to Startup Blink report 2020, reflecting how deep the German startup ecosystem is and how much potential it has to grow. The effectiveness of the German startup development policy is best represented in Berlin, the most developed and well-organized entrepreneurship ecosystem in Germany. According to Startup Genome’s global startup ecosystem report 2020, Berlin ranks 16th out of the 30 top global startup ecosystems in the world and ranks 5th in Europe, after London, Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Paris. One noticeable reason is the focusing of Berlin on becoming a creative city. Furthermore, living expenses in Berlin are considered relatively lower than that in other European major cities, making it the best place for entrepreneurs to start their own company.

A great deal of factories and warehouses of several prestigious car manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Daimler, … are situated in Berlin, which means that the city is of great advantages over geographical location, economic potentials and political stability. By attracting giant corporations, Berlin possesses lots of experienced experts, which creates an abundant source of mentors and coaches for startups wishing to start a business in this city.

Explore the 2nd part of this article here: http://startup.gov.vn/Pages/chi-tiet-tin-tuc.aspx?l=Tintucsukien&ItemID=299