Fintech location Berlin

Fintech location Berlin leading in Germany

The Fintech location Berlin is now the clear number one in Germany. While Frankfurt am Main in particular has long been considered by far the most important city for banks, it can no longer keep pace with Berlin when it comes to Fintech.

When considering the local financial centres, Frankfurt am Main is the most important location for bankers. With the headquarters of the European Central Bank, the city is also not insignificant for finance on an international level. However, with regard to the establishment of innovative Fintech companies and start-ups, the banking metropolis has to admit that it has been clearly beaten by the German capital.

Fintech location Berlin: reasons for success

Berlin has long been the centre for start-ups in Germany. Numerous successful start-ups such as those from Rocket Internet or Delivery Hero, GetYourGuide, Blinkist or the AUTO1 Group are at home in the capital. The list of successful startups is now very extensive. The success of the start-ups in Berlin acts as a magnet for tech talents from all over the world. Accordingly, Berlin is very international for German relations. English is the dominant language in many areas and also in gastronomy. And on the streets in buses and subways you can regularly hear people talking in Spanish and English.

In addition, the capital has a huge potential of very well educated graduates. For the capital is also one of the largest science regions in Europe and is therefore home to numerous universities:

  • 11 state universities
  • 2 confessional universities
  • 30 state-recognised private universities

A total of over 250,000 people from all over the world study at these universities. The great potential of talents and the start-up friendly environment also attracts Fintech start-ups.

One third of all German Fintechs are based in Berlin

The Berlin Start-up Monitor 2020 from the Federal Association of German Startups e.V. shows in its current issue that more than a third of all Fintechs in Germany are based in Berlin. This means that Berlin has left cities like Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg far behind. One of the first meanwhile large Fintech foundations in Berlin was made in 2007 by smava GmbH. Meanwhile smava with its approximately 700 employees is one of the heavyweights for financing solutions on the Internet. In addition, other well-known Fintechs now call Berlin their home. Led by N26, the following well-known names are also at the Fintech location Berlin:

  • Billie
  • Bitwala
  • Bonify
  • CrossLend
  • Finanzen.de AG
  • Finleap
  • FRIDAY
  • Friendsurance
  • Klarna
  • Liqid
  • Mambu
  • Penta
  • Raisin
  • simplesurance
  • Solaris Bank
  • SumUp
  • Taxfix
  • TradeRepublic
  • Wefox

The sometimes spectacular financing rounds that are regularly achieved and communicated by these companies show that even in the current crisis the Fintechs’ perspectives in Berlin are good.

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