German SMEs have hardly any contact to startups

SMEs particularly reluctant

Around every third company (30 percent) cooperates loosely with start-ups, for example through cooperation in start-up competitions. Every tenth company (10 percent) claims to develop products or services together with start-ups. For the smaller companies with 20 to 49 employees, however, the proportion is only six percent, for medium-sized companies with 50 to 499 employees it is eleven percent and for larger companies with 500 or more employees even 22 percent. And only nine percent of companies are financially involved in start-ups - and here too there is a striking difference depending on their size. While only 6 percent of the companies with 20 to 49 employees hold start-up participations, in medium-sized companies with 50 to 499 employees there are already 19 percent and in large companies with 500 or more employees even about one in two (48 percent). Berg recommends: "Smaller companies in particular should dare to enter into cooperation agreements with start-ups. In the meantime, there are corresponding places and opportunities for networking almost everywhere in Germany and not least the digital hub initiative of the Federal Government".

The vast majority of startups already work with established companies, as a survey conducted on behalf of the Bitkom digital association among more than 300 startup founders shows. For example, 3 out of 5 (60 percent) founders state that products or services are developed jointly, 2 out of 5 (43 percent) work loosely with established companies in other ways, for example in start-up competitions. After all, every fifth start-up (21 percent) involves established companies financially. Only 14 percent say that there is no cooperation at all - and 4 percent could not or did not want to give any information.

Start-ups that do not work with established companies most often argue that they want to remain independent (48 percent). Around one in three (36 percent) see no added value in cooperation, and around one in four (29 percent) see no concrete project in which cooperation is appropriate. However, around one in five founders (21 percent) also state that established companies are not interested in working together, 17 percent say that they have no contact with them. And 14 percent of the founders point out that they have no time for such cooperations, 7 percent lack the necessary financial means.

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