German SMEs have hardly any contact to startups

Working together with young company founders can bring a breath of fresh air to long-established companies. However, large companies in particular make use of this possibility. In Germany SMEs have hardly any contact with startups.

Established medium-sized companies know the market and have innovative products, young start-ups rely on fresh ideas and the latest digital technologies. When the two come together, both companies and the German economy will benefit. At least that's the theory. However, the practice usually looks different, as two current surveys by the German industry association Bitkom show. After that, companies across all industries lack contacts with startups.

Six out of ten companies (61 percent) with 20 or more employees state that they do not cooperate with startups at all. Among medium-sized companies with 50 to 499 employees, this figure is as high as 66 percent. By contrast, only 4 out of 10 companies (41 percent) with 500 or more employees do not cooperate with startups. This is the result of a representative survey on the state of digitization of the German economy among 604 companies with 20 or more employees on behalf of the Bitkom association. "Small and medium-sized businesses in particular often find it difficult to actively shape digitisation and use it for their own companies. Startups can be an important support here - and at the same time they can profit from the experiences and contacts of the established companies", says Bitkom President Achim Berg.

1. German SMEs have hardly any contact to startups
2. SMEs particularly reluctant