The Bundesverband Deutsche Startups (German Startups Association) is a membership corporation (“Eingetragener Verein”) based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and an association of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

startup industry. It was founded in 2012 to represent and function as a voice of startups vis-à-vis politics, civil society and the established economy. The association is committed to a founder-friendly Germany, promotes innovative entrepreneurship and wants to carry the startup mentality into society. As a network, the Federal Association of German Startups connects founders, startups and their networks.

Founding

The Bundesverband Deutsche Startups was founded in September 2012 by 18 startup entrepreneurs with the aim to establish an association as the political representation of startups in Germany. The concrete reason for the foundation was the Bundesrat's plans for an "anti-

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

law" that was supposed to tax free-float

dividends A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-in ...

. In 2015, the association had already grown to over 500 members. Today, the association has about 750 member companies. In addition, the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups also owns 36 student initiation initiatives. More than 20 full-time employees work at the Berlin headquarters.

Structure

The association is organized nationwide and is divided into 13 regional groups. These are supplemented by 24 specialist groups on various topics such as HR,

FinTech Fintech, a portmanteau of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data are r ...

or Future Mobility. Gründermagnet e.V. has been the representation of the student start-up initiatives in Germany since 2013 and is also part of the association.

Work

The Bundesverband Deutsche Startups organizes numerous events every year, addressing startups in various stages. Amongst others the Startup Camp Berlin, with over 1,000 participants and more than 150 speakers, is the largest early stage conference in Germany. Other regular events include ExitCon and the Growth Company Forum. In addition, the association organizes various delegation trips, which are regularly attended by federal ministers, such as the German

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

Week or the German

Tel-Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

-Week. The association publishes its political goals in its Deutsche Startup Agenda, which was last renewed in June 2017. More than 100 startups were involved in creating the program. As the only German digital association, the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups is in favor of

net neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...

German-Israeli-Startup-Exchange-Program (GISEP)

With the aim of promoting German-

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i economic relations in the field of startups, the Bundesverband Deutsche Startups initiated the German Israeli Startup Exchange Program (GISEP) in September 2016. The GISEP is supported by the German

Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as ...

(BMWi). The GISEP serves as an impartial first point of contact and neutral facilitator of business contacts and opportunities between both countries. In that function, the GISEP responds to ad-hoc enquiries, but also organizes independent events. The GISEP has been included in the BMWi's innovation agenda in April 2017.

German Startup Monitor (DSM)

The Bundesverband Deutsche Startups annually publishes the German Startup Monitor (DSM) and the European Startup Monitor (ESM) on the startup ecosystem in Germany and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The main aims are to present the development and significance of startups, to outline economic initiatives to strengthen the foundation location Germany and its regional ecosystems, as well as to cultivate enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. The DSM and ESM consider ventures that are 1) younger than ten years, 2) feature innovative technologies and/or business models, and 3) have or strive for a significant employee and/or sales growth as a startup. All founders, as well as members of the executives of German startups could participate in the online survey for the DSM. To access the survey, they received a special link via e-mail, which was solely spread through 298 selected DSM network partners (DSM 2016: 105, DSM 2015: 83; DSM 2014: 64; DSM 2013: 10). The total number of the high quality data sets continuously rose from 454 (DSM 2013), 903 (DSM 2014), 1061 (DSM 2015) and 1224 (DSM 2016) to 1837 Startups in the DSM 2017. The DSM is currently considered the most important study on startups in Germany, since it takes up current developments in the startup industry, such as the stronger regionalization, documented by data. Both DSM and ESM are listed in the

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of the Leibniz Information Center for Economics.

Successes

The Bundesverband Deutsche Startups's successes include the end of the planned anti-angel legislation, securing the holding privilege in angel investments and the introduction of the new market segment "Scale" for startups at the

Deutsche Börse Deutsche Börse AG () or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German company offering marketplace organizing for the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to gl ...

(German stock exchange)). In addition, the association played a role in the expansion of the investment subsidy

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

and in the evaluation of the Small Investor Protection Act. (“Kleinanlegerschutzgesetz”).