An open, creative atmosphere and a good digital infrastructure – even during the pandemic Cologne remained an attractive location for founders and, in 2021 saw a new startup established every third day. In Cologne, start-ups are flourishing, the city’s ecosystem is young and connections to investors and the Cologne science scene are first class.
In and around the city alone, there are over 550 startups and scale-ups with revenues of 1 billion euros.
Attractive investors, major players, 12 incubators, around 50 coworking spaces, numerous networking events, a wide range of funding programs, including one initiated by KölnBusiness GmbH – a management consultancy established in 2019 – and, of course, Cologne’s status as a great place to do business and create the perfect environment for healthy fast-paced growth.
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. Twenty-three colleges and 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.