According to the Startup Monitor 2024, Darmstadt ranks 4th.
Nationwide, there was a significant increase in startup formations by 15% in the first half of 2024. The Startup Association, which published these latest figures in its Startup Monitor 2024, sees this as a sign of a trend reversal. With 1,384 startups founded in this period, the dynamic is clearly increasing again. After the sharp decline in 2022, a positive trend is now confirmed.
According to the Startup Association, special potential lies in the regions: Besides Berlin and Munich, university-affiliated ecosystems have clearly recognizable development opportunities. Thus, Darmstadt – relative to the population – ranks 4th behind Munich, Berlin, and Aachen. “This shows that Darmstadt is not only a strong innovation hub in the Rhine-Main region but also plays a leading role in the startup scene nationwide,” emphasizes Harald Holzer, Managing Director of HIGHEST.
These tech startups and sciencepreneurs can rely on a strong ecosystem in Darmstadt. In addition to the HIGHEST Innovation and Startup Center at TU Darmstadt, Yubizz at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, CEASAH, hessian.ai, StartupSecure.Athene, and HUB31 support with successful consulting and networking formats like foundersXchange.
AI Startups Are Booming
The software sector proves to be particularly dynamic: With 302 new startups in the first half of 2024, every fifth new startup operates in this sector. This development underscores the growing importance of digitization and the increasing demand for innovative software solutions, driven especially by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AI startups are steadily increasing at the Technical University of Darmstadt: Among the sketches submitted for the TU Ideas Competition 2024, almost 60% were AI-based. A large part of the startups currently supported and funded by HIGHEST develop software solutions based on Artificial Intelligence. HIGHEST currently supports almost fifty startups. Here are five examples:
- Panocular.AI –develops software solutions that accelerate the design and deployment of AI vision models.
- CognitX.ai – offers intelligent data analysis that creates virtual assistants.
- VISPA – develops a minute-fast optical diagnostic tool ViSPAGI for cancer diseases, supported by AI.
- Energy Robotics – aims to protect people from dangerous tasks and situations through autonomous robotics.
- I3DEnergy – provides digital energy management for energy suppliers.
Text: HIGHEST/Claudia Becker
Foto: TU Darmstadt/Jannik Hoffmann
The report “Next Generation – Startup Formations in Germany” offers continuous semi-annual monitoring of one of the central success indicators of the German startup ecosystem. The basis of the report series is the data on startup formations in Germany collected by startupdetector, based on commercial register data and gathered since 2019.