opportunities in the IT sector, Berlin’s dynamic start-up culture makes it one to watch, says Liat Clark
WHERE CALIFORNIA HAS long had its Silicon Valley, and London is seeing the rise and rise of Silicon Roundabout, so Germany has Berlin as a hub where technology start-ups are flourishing. Not beautiful in the traditional sense, its sprawling city limits are dominated by grey post-war architecture. But head to one of its heaving cafes or bars, and it soon reveals its USP. The city’s infamous club culture has attracted an influx of bright young things from across Europe, escaping their unemployment woes and eager to make something of themselves in a city where entrepreneurship is second nature, in a country that is one of the most politically and financially stable on the continent. “You see them sitting with their Apples in a cafe – they’re not wearing a tie, stuck in an office,” says Visit Berlin chief executive Burkhard Kieker, referring to the new tech-savvy generation that has been turning innovation into profit. Germany’s financial security is
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founded on exports – last year it broke the trillion-euro mark – including steel and car manufacturing. But in its capital, where traditional industry has been weak for decades and the economy has been sustained by the tourism and meetings sectors – it is number four in the world for conventions, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) – technology is rapidly catching up as one of the top-performing industries.
CREATIVE KICK “We didn’t see its strength at first,” Kieker says. “In fact, we learnt it from Silicon Valley. They told us: ‘Right
Reich Dome
now, it’s in Silicon Valley and Berlin that you see IT start-ups on a huge scale.’” Kieker calls it the city’s “second wave” of creativity – a follow-up to the mash-up of artists and cultures that turned the reunified Berlin of the 1990s into a bohemian hub. When figures released last year showed that 1,860 tech companies launched in 2010 in Berlin, the world finally took note – E136 million in funding poured into 81 start-ups, and Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom’s investment fund put E3.1 million into Berlin software start-up 6Wunderkinder. There are about 50,000 staff
working for the city’s 5,700 IT companies, producing an annual turnover of more than E10 billion and accounting for more than 10 per cent
of the city’s GDP. This September, ten fledgling companies in Berlin are receiving the Startupbootcamp.org treatment: a three-month acceleration programme which offers seed funding, mentors and free co-working space with other startups. At the end of the programme, the startups get a chance to pitch to top angel investors and venture capitalists for funding. Hotel stock is on the rise, with recent openings including the newbuild Alexander Parkside complex, which houses a 153-room Hotel Indigo and a 240-room Holiday Inn. The 232-room Waldorf Astoria Berlin is due to this autumn. German hotel operator Maritim
has two large business and conference hotels in central Berlin. International sales director Mark Spivey says he’s