Germany hits a record: more than 3,000 new startups in six months, with artificial intelligence on top

While German industry is going through one of the deepest crises in decades, the country’s startup scene is experiencing an unprecedented surge, driven by artificial intelligence — Reuters reports in an analysis published today.

According to data from the German economy ministry, more than 3,000 startups were founded in Germany in the first half of 2026 — an absolute record and a 52% increase compared with the previous six months. Around a third of the new companies are focused on artificial intelligence, while the capital available is rising significantly: between January and September, German startups raised €8 billion in venture capital — more than in all of 2025, according to the Startup Monitor of the German Startup Association.

The reasons for the boom are twofold: the global explosion of AI and the weakness of the labour market, which is pushing talented professionals away from secure corporate jobs towards entrepreneurship. “The momentum is coming at the right time,” Verena Pausder, head of the German Startup Association, told Reuters. “Large parts of our industry are fighting for their existence.”

The industrial crisis — with around 400,000 jobs lost between 2019 and 2025, according to an estimate by the German Economic Institute IW, mainly because of competition from China — is turning into an opportunity for hundreds of small startups offering AI-based solutions to cut costs and automate routine work. The example Reuters cites is the Berlin company Langdock, founded three years ago, which already has around 60 employees and €50 million in revenue.

The German government is trying to keep up the pace: Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet approved in July the “Strategy for Startups and Scaleups” with 152 measures to cut bureaucracy and mobilise private capital in technology, biotechnology and defence. But the gap with the United States remains deep: German AI startups raised only €5.7 billion between January and September, against almost €308 billion in the U.S.