Startup BW Report Published: Fresh Insights into Baden-Württemberg’s Startup Landscape

July 16, 2025 /

The new Startup BW Report offers a data-based and experience-driven look into the region’s early-stage startup ecosystem - including growth trends, founder feedback, and key success factors. Now available as Volume 1 of the ENI Whitepaper Series.

As part of the UpStart BW project, the first annual report on the situation of early-stage startups in Baden-Württemberg has now been published. The report appears as the inaugural volume of the new ENI Whitepaper Series and offers data-driven insights into current developments, success factors, and challenges within the regional startup ecosystem.

The project UpStart BW is led by the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science (ENI) at the University of Stuttgart and funded by the Péter Horváth Foundation. Its aim is to shed light on entrepreneurial activity in the region based on current data analyses and first-hand feedback from founders.

The report is based on macro- and micro-level data collected through DEEM – Dynamic Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Monitoring, a research initiative of the ENI.

Core questions addressed in the report include:

  • In which sectors are startups emerging most frequently, and what are the backgrounds of the founders?

  • Which early-stage startups in Baden-Württemberg showed significant growth in 2023/2024?

  • What overarching trends and structural factors are linked to entrepreneurial success?

In addition to data analysis, the report includes qualitative insights: In-depth interviews with founders of both successful and failed startups offer authentic perspectives. The most frequently mentioned points of praise and criticism were systematically analyzed. The findings are valuable for aspiring entrepreneurs, ecosystem stakeholders, and policymakers seeking to improve support structures in Baden-Württemberg.

The full report is now available free of charge via the University of Stuttgart’s publication service (German language only).

To the Report

Contact

Contact: Johannes Engels, Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science (ENI). Mail

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