Teamwork: The start-up Ceres from Darmstadt, which was awarded the Hessian Founder’s Prize, hopes for a successful future, but the situation for founders in the region is difficult.
Image: Tom Wesse
Frankfurt remains the fifth most important German city for founders. But the scene has worries and the distance to Berlin is still huge.
Dhe big problems are already plaguing the youngest: the founders of Start-ups in the Rhine-Main region complain that it is difficult for them to get money and skilled workers. Many potential young entrepreneurs even prefer not to start a new company in these times. According to the start-up association, the number of start-ups founded nationwide fell by almost a fifth compared to the previous year, and in the stronghold of Berlin by as much as 29 percent. In Hesse, on the other hand, it has remained at the level of 2021. However, three studies published this week on the subject of the state and the Rhine-Main region are far from being a start-up paradise.
Above all, the young entrepreneurs themselves do not understand the location as such: according to the start-up monitor of the management consultancy, only every second person recognizes a good, founder-friendly ecosystem in Rhine-Main PwC, which sheds light on the start-up scene. What the young companies in Frankfurt, Darmstadt and the other cities lack more than those in the start-up strongholds of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich are contacts with each other. Only 43 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed consider the connections within the scene to be close enough, with Darmstadt residents expressing more satisfaction than Frankfurt residents. Nationwide, 70 percent of founders state that they are positioned in a well-connected ecosystem. The proximity to the universities and the opportunities for cooperation with large companies are also rated well for the Rhine-Main region.
