Berlin Stays Top in Survey of European Startup Locations

The results of the 2022 Startup Heat Map are in, and Berlin has again been voted the best place for fledgling businesses in Europe. The list, based on a geographically weighted survey of more than 24,000 founders also included Munich at number eight, and Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Cologne at numbers 33, 39, 45 and 50 respectively.

“More than every third founder in Europe could imagine starting their company in the German capital,” the authors of the study concluded. “Those who do are being welcomed by a thriving startup community with an ever growing number of meetup participants and growing availability of seed capital.”

Berlin came out tops in access to funding, helpful ecosystem and value for money, as measured on the average salaries of developers. Munich ranked fourth by that final metric. Frankfurt and Munich were one-two in the category “best access to industry” with Berlin in sixth.

Overall venture capital in Europe hit an all-time high of EUR 101 billion in 2021, representing an annual rise of 18 percent and narrowing the gap with the United States (EUR 119 billion). Germany was named the most important target market after the US.