More company start-ups in NRW

Even during the coronavirus pandemic, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is recording a growing number of company start-ups. This is a finding of the NRW Startup Monitor 2020.

This article is part of the special feature GründerNavi – for founders and young companies

The North Rhine-Westphalia Startup Monitor 2020 confirms that the state offers favorable conditions for entrepreneurs. The monitor reports a 17 percent increase in startup formations this year compared to the same period last year. However, it also states that stronger incentives for growth and financing are needed to further improve these conditions.

The most important results of the Startup Monitor 2020 for North Rhine-Westphalia:

• North Rhine-Westphalia has a networked and active ecosystem: With a share of 19 percent, more startups participated than in any other German state for the third time in a row. Companies from North Rhine-Westphalia are comparatively young: While at the national level, around 22 percent of startups are in the seed stage—the earliest development phase—the figure here is 31 percent.
• First-time founders play an important role in North Rhine-Westphalia: According to the survey, 63 percent of people in this country fall into this category (federal government: 53 percent).
• B2B is crucial for many start-ups: Around 65 percent of respondents generate more than 50 percent of their revenue from business customers.
• The ecosystem in North Rhine-Westphalia is characterized by openness: The proportion of founders with a migration background, at 28 percent, roughly corresponds to the proportion of the working population (federal government: 20 percent of founders, 25 percent of the working population).
• Despite the Corona crisis, start-up activity is increasing: In the first half of 2020, there were 17 percent more start-ups founded in North Rhine-Westphalia than in the same period of the previous year. The political measures supported many start-ups during the crisis. Overall, 66 percent of North Rhine-Westphalian start-ups rated the economic policy initiatives positively (federal government: 56 percent).
• Growth requires additional resources: 57 percent of respondents have already raised external capital and 18 percent employ more than ten people.
• Universities strengthen the ecosystem: Many founders studied at North Rhine-Westphalia's universities, and 84 percent rate the proximity to universities as (very) good. However, there is still room for improvement in attracting talent from other regions.

Link: Here you can find the current Startup Monitor for the current year. "We want North Rhine-Westphalia to be among the top 10 leading startup regions in Europe by 2025. This requires founders who are innovative and courageous and who use networking and cooperation with SMEs and industry as an opportunity to scale their business models. We have the best conditions for this in North Rhine-Westphalia ," says Minister of Economic Affairs Andreas Pinkwart (FDP).

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Christian Miele , President of the German Startups Association , adds: "In North Rhine-Westphalia, an incredibly broad startup ecosystem has developed in recent years. The fact that startup activity has even increased despite the Corona crisis demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit in the region. Our task now is to leverage the enormous potential of combining the old and new economies."

The North Rhine-Westphalia Startup Monitor is commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and published for the second time this year by the Startup Association. The study is based on data from a total of 372 North Rhine-Westphalian startups with their 879 founders and a total of 2.591 employees, who were identified as part of the survey for the German Startup Monitor 2020.

Source: NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs