• Ongoing Projects
• Green Economy Startup Monitor (Gemo)

The Green Economy Startup Monitor (GEMO), published by the Borderstep Institute and the University of Oldenburg, examines indicators and developments relating to start-ups in the fields of renewable energies, energy efficiency, circular economy, and other areas of the green economy.

In a pilot survey conducted in 30 German startup centers in 2013, the Green Economy Startup Monitor conducted its first study on the significance of green startups. For subsequent editions, the basis of the pilot survey was significantly expanded.

Based on a Creditreform company database containing records on over 1.3 million economically active companies in Germany, the Green Economy Start-up Monitor (GEMO) examines new business startups with “greater economic significance.”

The Green Economy Startup Monitor has developed into a comprehensive survey that provides a representative overview of green startups in Germany.

The survey method is based on the “EGSS classification” of the European statistics office EUROSTAT and defines “green startups” as startups whose products, technologies, and services contribute to the ecological goals of the green economy.

Results of the Green Economy Start-up Monitor 2017

The Green Economy Startup Monitor 2017 builds on the Startup Monitor 2015, which examined the long-term development of green startups from 2006 to 2014.  With the extension of the study period to include the startup years 2015 and 2016, the Green Economy Startup Monitor 2017 analyzes not only the current development of green startups in Germany, but also, for the first time, issues relating to the financing of green startups. Data sets from a total of 6,875 business startups were used for the GEMO 2017, which covers the period from 2006 to 2016.

The most important facts in brief

• The proportion of green startups in Germany is stagnating.
• In 2015 and 2016, 36,400 new businesses were founded in Germany in the green economy sector.
• 40% of green startups focus on energy efficiency.
• Seventeen percent of green startups focus on the circular economy and sustainable food and agriculture, respectively.
• A good half of green startups are service companies focusing on trade and building-related installations.
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Hamburg had the highest startup intensity for green startups between 2006 and 2016.
• Raising capital is one of the biggest challenges for green startups, even more so than for other startups.
• In 2016 and 2017, a total of over €367.5 million was invested in eight green startups alone as part of the ten largest known German financing rounds.

Results of the 2014 Green Economy Startup Monitor

The Green Economy Startup Monitor 2014 examined a sample of 5,000 companies from all companies founded between 2006 and 2013 (a total of around 500,000 companies).

The most important facts in brief

• Around 170,000 companies have been founded in the fields of renewable energies, energy efficiency, circular economy, and climate protection.
• These young companies have created 1.1 million new jobs.
• Overall, around 14% of all startups in Germany contribute to an environmentally and climate-friendly economy with their products and services.
• Almost two-thirds of the young companies specialize in green services, while another third offer environmentally friendly and resource-saving products
• High-tech accounts for 15% of green startups
• In 2013, around 16,700 new companies were launched in the green economy sector
• Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Baden-Württemberg have the highest number of startups in the green economy sector. Over 82,000 green companies have been founded in these three federal states in the last eight years. This accounts for almost half of all startups in the green economy sector.