Beyond the obvious: Wachstum gibt’s nicht per Formular
Deutschlands Gründungsökosystem braucht keine Wachstumsstrategie. Worauf es stattdessen ankommt, bespricht Daniel Stelter mit dem langjährigen Geschäftsführer des High-Tech Gründerfonds.
In mid-August 2026, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil announced a "new startup era" at a Branchendialog Ost event. Around the same time, Economics Minister Katherina Reiche presented a startup and scale-up strategy with over 150 measures. While everyone talks about startups, the numbers tell a different story. A new study by the US National Bureau of Economic Research highlights a valuation gap of $34 trillion between American and European companies, growing from around one-third in 2008 to over 300% in 2023.
German labor researcher Enzo Weber discusses an innovation crisis: only about 2% of employees in German industries are working in companies that were founded in the last five years. Daniel Stelter spoke to Alex von Frankenberg, the long-time CEO of the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), the largest and most active early-stage investor for innovative technology startups in Germany.
Over his tenure, he has financed around 800 startups, accompanied over 200 successful exits, and closed four unicorn partnerships. Stelter noted the shortcomings of the German startup dynamics and explained where the real bottlenecks lie.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
