• Ongoing Projects
• Green Startup Monitor (GSM)

The Green Startup Monitor (GSM) was a joint research project between the Borderstep Institute and the German Startups Association (Startup Verband). The project examined the development of sustainable start-ups in Germany from 2018 to 2024. It forms the basis for the Borderstep Institute’s current research in the Green Startup Report.

The aim of the GSM was to paint a comprehensive picture of the green start-up scene in Germany and thus highlight the importance of sustainable start-ups for the ecological transformation of the economy.

The project was funded by the German Federal Foundation for the Environment (DBU). The GSM continuously provided key data, analyses and recommendations for action for politics, business and science.

Green Startup Monitor: Research focus

Each year, the GSM examined:

• the proportion of green start-ups in the start-up scene in Germany,
• their industry focus and regional distribution,
• innovation activities and cooperation networks,
• the composition of the founding teams,
• and the specific challenges of sustainable start-ups, particularly in terms of financing and market entry.

With its empirical basis and clear definition of “green start-ups”, the monitor contributed to the systematic recording of the green start-up landscape for the first time and made it possible to compare it over the years.

The results of the GSM were widely received in politics, research and the media and were incorporated into funding programmes and strategies to support sustainable innovation. The project thus formed an important point of reference for scientific and political debate on sustainable entrepreneurship in Germany.

Further development: Green Startup Report

Since 2025, research into the green start-up landscape has been continued under the new title Green Startup Report. The report is based on the experiences and data from the GSM and expands on these with a new scientific concept. It focuses on the evaluation of data on young companies and commercial register entries on start-up investments. In this way, Borderstep is continuing its research on sustainable start-ups in Germany in an updated form.

More information on the current research project can be found on the Green Startup Report website.

Figures, data, insights: illustrations from the Green Startup Report available for free download

Many illustrations from the Green Startup Report and the Green Startup Monitor are available for free download.

What is the state of the green start-up scene in Germany?

The Green Start-up Report 2025 provided answers based on the evaluation of data on over 12,000 young companies and more than 50,000 commercial register entries on start-up investments.

• Which industries are particularly innovative?
• Where are most green start-ups being created?
• How large is the proportion of women founders?
• And how open is the investor landscape to sustainable business models?

The report also highlights questions such as:

• Which regions in Germany are leading the way in green start-ups?
• How do universities contribute to the creation of sustainable start-ups?
• What trends are currently shaping the green start-up ecosystem?

Whether in politics, science or business, the Green Startup Report offers guidance for anyone who wants to help shape the sustainable transformation.

Green Startup Monitor (2018–2024)

The Green Startup Monitor analysed the significance of those start-ups whose products and services actively contributed to achieving ecological goals in line with a green economy.

The study was conceived by the Borderstep Institute in 2018 and published for the first time in 2019. The editions from 2019 to 2024 were produced with funding from the German Federal Foundation for the Environment (DBU) and published jointly by the Borderstep Institute and the German Startups Association under the title “Green Startup Monitor”.

Green Economy Start-up Monitor (2013 – 2017)

The Green Economy Start-up Monitor (GEMO) was the predecessor project to the Green Startup Report and Green Startup Monitor. In cooperation with the University of Oldenburg, the Borderstep Institute used GEMO to examine key indicators and developments relating to start-ups in key areas of the green economy, including renewable energies, energy efficiency, the circular economy and other sustainability-oriented industries.

The project kicked off with a pilot survey in 2013 at 30 German start-up centres, which systematically recorded the importance of green start-ups for the first time. In the following years, GEMO was developed into a comprehensive nationwide survey that provided a representative overview of the green start-up scene in Germany and formed the basis for its subsequent development into the Green Startup Monitor.