Top location for startups in Europe: NRW.Global Business

A large market, numerous networks and outstanding talent – NRW offers ideal conditions for startups and future-oriented projects

North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the top locations for startups in the whole of Europe. The state offers excellent conditions for innovative business ideas:

And this pays off: NRW has a connected and close-knit startup ecosystem that is characterized by its diversity and dynamism.

Germany's most populous and economically strongest state offers startups a large sales market and, with its high density of industrial and commercial companies, many potential customers and partners. Thus, in addition to 17 of the 50 German companies with the highest sales, many well-known SMEs and family-owned companies are also located in the state. Furthermore, a strong information and communications technology (ICT) sector is clearly driving digital transformation in the state. Many startups benefit from networking and entrepreneurial concentration as they develop their business models. Today, around 65 percent of all startups in NRW already generate more than 50 percent of their sales in the B2B sector.

Another important location factor is the large number of universities and research institutions, which provide a large talent pool of well-trained specialists. For example, more than 90,000 young people in NRW are studying electrical engineering/information technology and computer science – and their numbers are rising. In addition, many startups are spin-offs from successful research projects at universities and non-university research centers.

Startups will find numerous local creative scenes here."Urbanana," for example, is the banana-shaped urban jungle that stretches from the Ruhr metropolis to Düsseldorf and Cologne. Not everything is smooth and perfect here, but people who love and help to shape their urban space live here, open to new inspirations.

Startups can revolutionize industries – North Rhine-Westphalia has excellent prerequisites to become a technology pioneer in Europe.

Mona Neubaur

Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Join Europe's startup hub with NRW's Startup Welcome Package

To support international tech companies seeking to expand into Germany, NRW provides the "Startup Welcome Package," a grant specifically designed to facilitate a smooth entry into the German market.

The Startup Welcome Package includes:

A 10,000 euro grant that can be used for:

Rent for at least 90 days in a coworking space in NRW
Tailored consulting services, including B2B support, tax advice, mentoring, and coaching

Eligibillity criteria for international companies:

<10

Less than ten years old

<250

Fewer than 250 employees

<50 Mio.

Annual revenues of less than 50 million euros

Registration

Registered in its home country and not in Germany at the time of application

For inquiries and to apply for the Startup Welcome Package, please contact NRW.Global Business.

Send an email

Get connected

International networking plays a crucial role in this context. To this end, the state of NRW developed the digital network platform NRW.Global.Connect with the aim of connecting NRW's economy with innovation hotspots worldwide. The first partner country of the portal is the startup hotspot Israel, with further international cooperations planned.

NRW.Global.Connect supports established NRW companies and institutions in innovation and technology scouting and offers opportunities for direct contact and initiation of partnerships with international startups. The startups, in turn, receive suggestions for possible business contacts in NRW for their products or product ideas via the platform in a matchmaking process. NRW.Global.Connect gives research institutions from Germany and abroad the opportunity to find project and application partners for research ideas, patents and other transfer offerings.

NRW.Global.Connect

Around 20 percent

of all German startups are located in NRW, according to the German Startup Monitor.

65 percent

of the startups generate more than 50 percent of their sales in the B2B sector.

1.3 startups

are founded per day in NRW.

5 digital hubs

in Aachen, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen and Münster support startups with market access.

The strengths of the startup ecosystem in NRW

Excellent universities and research, strong networks, extensive funding opportunities, DigiHubs, accelerators and incubators – this is how startups get support.

From research project to market-ready product

Network assistants for startups

Growth accelerators and incubators

Benefiting from state funding

Connected to the world in NRW

Financing in every development phase

Growth accelerators and incubators

Accelerators and incubators enable startups to further develop their business idea. There are a large number of such formats in NRW – more than 30 accelerator programs accompany startups on their path to success. The STARTPLATZ accelerator in Cologne and Düsseldorf, for example, is an important point of contact for innovative tech startups in NRW that want to grow quickly and sustainably. Other programs have a narrower focus: While DOaccelerate in Dortmund promotes collaborations between international startups with regional NRW companies, Xdeck in Cologne supports young companies in the concrete production of physical and digital products such as Big Data-based algorithms.

Other accelerators focus on startups in a specific industry. These include the accelerator program of the first hydrogen hub H2UB in Europe, which supports startups in the energy and hydrogen sectors. The Cologne-based accelerator InsurLab uses startups to advance innovation and digitization in the insurance industry, while Startport from Duisburg supports B2B innovations that find application in the logistics and supply chain. Corporate accelerators such as Deutsche Telekom's tecboost in Cologne, Vodafone Uplift in Düsseldorf, or the Hilden-based Qiagen Digital Accelerator incorporate the business ideas of startups directly into their day-to-day business, managing customer projects together with them, and providing the necessary resources for this purpose.

From startup to key player

These startups from NRW are now shaping their industry.

Trivago, Dusseldorf

Auxmoney, Dusseldorf

DeepL, Cologne

Escrypt, Bochum

Next Kraftwerke, Cologne

Changing the market with new ideas

These startups from NRW are causing a stir in their industry with new approaches.

Schüttflix, Gummersbach

Dabbel, Dusseldorf

Accure, Aachen

Cureosity, Dusseldorf

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions

Florian Schnitzler

Head of Division +49 211 13000-127 Send an email

Further links and information