German cabinet to approve startup strategy to boost their competitiveness

BERLIN, July 22 (Reuters) - Germany's cabinet is expected to approve a comprehensive startup strategy on Wednesday aimed at improving access to finance, attracting skilled workers and cutting bureaucracy for newly founded companies, according to a government paper seen by Reuters.

• The 36-page strategy, led by the economy ministry, contains 152 measures to strengthen innovative startups and help more young firms scale up and remain in Germany.

• The plan comes after a record 3,053 startups were founded in Germany in the first half of 2026, up 52% from the second half of 2025.

• Startups are also becoming more important as employers, with 522,000 people working for them in 2024, 26% more than four years earlier.

• The paper says Germany still struggles to turn successful startups into growth companies: venture capital investment reached €7.2 billion in 2025, far below levels in the United States and Britain.

• The strategy aims to mobilise more private capital for sectors including technology, biotechnology and defence.

• The Future Fund — a German government-backed venture capital programme launched in 2021 — will be extended beyond 2030.

(Reporting by Maria Martinez and Christian Kraemer; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)