Cologne: superlative city for startups

startups

incubators

coworking spaces

universities

An open, creative atmosphere, a excellent digital infrastructure and a well-developed research landscape - Cologne is still the start-up capital: 73 new start-ups were founded in 2024 alone. Start-ups in Cologne are growing rapidly, the Cologne ecosystem is young and the contact with investors and the Cologne science landscape is exemplary.

In and around the city alone, there are around 850 startups and scale-ups.
Attractive investors, major players, 12 incubators, around 29 coworking spaces, numerous networking events and, of course, Cologne’s status as a great place to do business and create the perfect environment for healthy fast-paced growth. Founded in 2019, KölnBusiness GmbH supports and initiates a wide range of sponsorship programmes, including the Gründungsstipendium.NRW (start-up grant) and content formats such as Gründschule (start-up school) – a YouTube format that explains topics relevant to founders in an understandable way.

Cologne start-ups have a track record in pioneering software, health, media and marketing.
Start-ups benefit from a varied university landscape with over 100,000 students. 25 universities as well as 12 research centers, along with numerous incubators and accelerators, are hotbeds of new talent.

Congratulations to Unicorn status startups

The Cologne-based online translation solution Deepl has been awarded Unicorn status as part of a new round of funding. Unicorns are start-ups with an estimated value of at least 1 billion US dollars prior to IPO or an investor exit*. In Germany, there are currently 32 companies with Unicorn status.

Coworking in Cologne is booming

Coworking spaces are a great way to grow your network. And now there is space for coworkers throughout the city – something that is definitely down to the inspiring mix of established businesses, startups and creative freelancers that makes the city’s ecosystem perfect for productive exchange!

At Friesenplatz in the city centre, for example, WeWork provides space for over 1,000 coworkers. Approximately half a kilometer up the road at the Wallarkaden, even more space was made available in 2021. Solutions such as "Eigene Schreibtisch" offer fixed workspaces on request, with the Labs-Schreibtische coworking service even offering its coworkers mentoring and training. Networking events, language, and yoga courses, as well as Lunch&Learn sessions are also part of the concept.

STARTPLATZ, an experienced start-up incubator and accelerator, is in the middle of Cologne's Mediapark. It offers everything from consulting, coaching, workshops, events to access to its extensive network. To date, STARTPLATZ has invested over 170 million euros in start-ups. Design Offices offers conference rooms for meetings, workshops or coaching at various locations in Cologne. In Cologne’s Ehrenfeld district, The Ship meets founders’ needs.

Selection of coworking spaces in Cologne

Design Offices Köln

Startplatz

BioCampus Cologne

incube8

Spaceworks

Wertheim Cologne

Headquaters-Downtown

COWOKI Coworking plus

District Coworking Köln Godorf

INSURLAB Germany

KalkSoace e. V.

Series A Campus

RTZ Rechtsrheinisches Technologie- und Gründerzentrum Köln

Forum Food & Nachhaltigkeit

akkuraum

And the idea is … the Cologne Masterclass.

Selecting and coaching

A new seal of quality for promising Cologne-based start-ups is the Cologne Masterclass. Through this program, KölnBusiness and its partners select and coach outstanding start-ups and introduce them to top-class investors. The program aims to make the Cologne region even more attractive for investors as a business center.

Startups that have succeeded in one of the programs or a competition run by a partner organization are nominated and given the opportunity to present their ideas to investors on Matching Day.

In addition, selected start-ups benefit from things like access to Cologne Masterclass’s network of partners, preferential participation in various KölnBusiness funding programs, and help with marketing activities.

The Managing Director of KölnBusiness explains in an interview how Cologne as a business location enables start-ups to grow and survive and why the good news in terms of funding never stops.

Cologne Uni promotes start-up culture

The GATEWAY university start-up service in Cologne – Make ideas work

Cologne is a hub for science and research, producing a wide range of innovative research results. However, the path from idea to practical application often varies significantly. Under the motto ‘Make Ideas Work’, the Gateway Excellence Start-up Centre offers advice and coaching on all aspects of founding and starting up a business. The Gateway Factory focuses on promoting deep tech start-ups. Start-up spin-offs from universities are specifically linked with industrial companies, investors and research partners and supported in their search for personnel and customers. With the combined offerings of four Cologne-based scientific institutions (the University of Cologne, TH Köln, the German Sport University Cologne and the Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln) since 2021, Cologne is set to establish itself as a start-up hub in Germany.

In 2025, the Gateway Factory won a competition organised by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and is now one of ten EXIST start-up factories in Germany that will receive up to 10 million euros in funding until 2030.

With its goals, the University of Cologne's innovation and start-up centre, Excellence Start-up Centre GATEWAY, is in good company: the start-up service's premises are located in the new start-up hub InnoDom Cologne.

From Start-up Unit to DIGITAL X.

The City of Cologne’s Start-up Unit also supports founders and invites them to exchange ideas at networking events. The Digital Hub Cologne brings business, science, and industry together and provides advice on topics related to digitization.

Other start-up gatherings include the c/o pop convention, or DIGITAL X, and trade fairs such as dmexco and gamescom, which complete the offerings.

City-run initiatives such as Digital Hub Cologne, BioCampus and InsureLab help businesses digitalize and connect them with innovative start-ups.

BioCampus Cologne, for example, offers start-ups and innovative technology companies a long-term and sustainable perspective. InsurLab Germany e.V. is a joint initiative between business, science and public institutions aimed at strengthening Cologne as an insurance center and is currently supported by more than 80 member companies – insurers, startups, and leading service providers. The Digital Hub is a pilot and point of contact around the issues of digitization and innovation for established companies as well as the start-up ecosystem.