Highest Number of Firm Foundations in 15 Years
ResearchAnalysis by ZEW and Creditreform Shows New Growth Trend Among Innovative Start-Ups
Start-up activity in Germany gained significant momentum in 2025 with around 183,000 new firms being founded, according to a survey by ZEW Mannheim and Creditreform. That is 7.7% more than in the previous year and the highest number in 15 years. The upwards trend is particularly strong among growth-oriented, innovative start-ups. Around 3,100 such firms were founded in 2025, 19% more than in 2024. However, the picture is mixed when it comes to entries in the commercial register: The number of newly founded small businesses which are not registered in the commercial register increased, whereas the number of foundations registered fell by 3.3%.
“The significant rise in the number of foundations is a positive sign. Nevertheless, a closer look reveals that this growth has mostly come from small businesses. In contrast, we continue to see weaker development among larger, more capital-intensive start-ups,” explains Dr. Sandra Gottschalk, a researcher in the ZEW Research Unit “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics”.
More growth-oriented start-ups
Following the slump in 2022 and a largely stagnant trend up to 2024, start-up activity in 2025 saw a noticeable recovery in growth-oriented start-ups, with a total of 3,100. Of these, more than 45%, or around 1,400 firms, are in the technology-oriented services sector. In this sector, the number of start-up formations even rose by 27% over the previous year. In the survey, a start-up is classified as growth-oriented if it is established as a corporation, involves several founders and carries out research and development.
A closer look shows a mixed picture
There are also significant differences between sectors. The hospitality sector showed particularly dynamic growth in 2025: Around 20,000 businesses were established, 20.7% more than in the previous year. At the same time, the number of closures in this sector also rose significantly. The trend in the manufacturing industry is weaker. The number of start-ups in the research-intensive manufacturing industry fell by 2.6% and in the vehicle manufacturing sector by as much as 8.7%. Technology-oriented services provide a counterpoint, with the number of start-ups registered in the commercial register rising by 8.5%. Overall, these findings call for a differentiated assessment of the upwards trend in new start-ups.
About the methodology
The analyses are mainly based on the Mannheim Business Panel (MUP) compiled by Creditreform and ZEW, which contains information on just over ten million businesses in Germany and covers around three million currently active enterprises. As newly established businesses are sometimes only included in the data after a delay, the start-up figures are extrapolated to the present day. Consequently, the figures for 2025 are plausible forecasts. In addition, ZEW uses a machine learning method to assess the growth potential of young firms. Based on characteristics observable at the time of formation – including legal form, patent and trademark applications, and sectoral and regional characteristics – the model estimates the probability that a firm will go public or be acquired by another firm within six years.
