At the end of 2020, the German federal government’s budget committee has given a green light for an extensive financial package for the country’s start-up ecosystem, which amounts to around 10 billion Euros and is to cover a period of 10 years.

Germany is one of the top ranked countries in the world in terms of innovation and start-up ecosystem. Located in the center of the European Union, it has the largest economy in the continent and is one of the biggest exporters globally. Germany is also well known for its strong democracy, high quality of its services and products, as well as being a welcoming land for immigration – for entrepreneurs from around the world. 

All these attributes contribute to Germany’s successful start-up ecosystem and the country aspires to expand it further. At the end of 2020, the German federal government’s budget committee has given a green light for an extensive financial package for the country’s start-up ecosystem, which amounts to around 10 billion Euros and is to cover a period of 10 years.

The financial package has two components. Part of the funds should flow into existing state- and partially-state-owned investors that can invest directly or indirectly to start-ups. These include, for instance, the German KfW Development Bank and the European Investment Fund. As for the other component, two new funds are to be created: First, a total of 1 billion Euros is intended for the new KfW Capital-Funds-of-Funds, which is to organize large financing rounds for start-ups of a certain maturity.  Second, a Deep-Tech Fund is to be created, aiming at supporting start-ups with groundbreaking technologies such as those in the field of artificial intelligence and biotech [Read original article, in German].

Supporting start-ups and SMEs is part of our project’s (GT4SME) objectives. You can contact our project team and our German project partner to get more information and support.