• News
• Green Economy Start-up Monitor

The current issue of the Green Economy Start-up Monitor (GEMO) of the Borderstep Institute reports for the first time on questions of financing green start-ups (special pages Green Start-up Investment Monitor). This special evaluation is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the National Climate Initiative as part of the Green Start-Up Investment Alliance – GreenUpInvest project.

Cooperation with German Startup Monitor (DSM)

In cooperation with the German Startup Monitor (DSM) 2017 of the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups (BVDS) data on financing conditions and challenges of green and non-green innovative start-ups were evaluated. The green start-ups include all start-ups that have indicated “GreenTech” as a field of activity in the DSM survey. The results show that the future financing requirements of green start-ups (an average of 200,000 euros) are higher than those of non-green start-ups (an average of 35,000 euros). This also explains why GreenTech start-ups regard capital generation as a greater challenge than non-green start-ups.

Green start-ups want political support

Against this background, it is not surprising that the Cleantech start-up respondents hope for greater support in the procurement of funds from policy and the public sector. In contrast, the other start-ups hope to see the removal of regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles above all else. Furthermore, what becomes apparent is that the Cleantech start-ups wish to improve the exchange with politicians much more than other start-ups do.

The Green Economy Start-up Monitor 2017 shows that green start-ups in Germany must network with politics and business in order to be successful – and vice versa. Green start-ups are an indispensable transformation engine for Germany as a business location. Tapping the environmental and economic potential of green start-ups should therefore be a key objective of future start-up support. Green start-ups do a lot for Germany as a business location and its environmental, climate and sustainability policy objectives.

Green Startups Network of the Federal Association of German Startups

The German Start-ups Association has already taken an important step in this direction in 2017 and, at the suggestion of the Borderstep Institute, founded a new specialist group on green startups. The Green Startups Network sees itself as a platform for start-ups, young and established companies, investors and important players from the green economy, i.e. in particular from the fields of renewable energies, mobility, cleantech, environmental services, resource efficiency, IT, software, agriculture and food. With various activities such as networking events, communication campaigns and digital projects, the platform supports members in successfully anchoring new ideas and innovations in the market, networking industry and start-ups and enabling attractive financing options for investors.

Startups, companies and investors who are interested in the platform and would like to stay informed about the numerous activities, please register in this registration form to become part of the platform and receive a regular newsletter.