The numbers send a clear message: Today, there are twice as many start-ups in Dusseldorf than in 2015. Currently, more than 300 newly founded companies are registered in Dusseldorf, and all indicators point to a steady rise. Thus, Dusseldorf has become a serious competitor to Berlin in terms of which town will be the most attractive base for startups in Germany. According to a monitoring survey conducted by the renowned international consulting firm KPMG and an accompanying report in the Berlin broadsheet “Tagesspiegel”, 19% of the startups responding to the questionnaire are based in North Rhine-Westphalia, as opposed to 15.8% in Berlin.
Dusseldorf is the Center of the Startup Scene
According to a report recently published by the German broadsheet “Westdeutsche Zeitung”, Dusseldorf is the main hub for those developments in North Rhine-Westphalia. Peer Schulz is a Dusseldorf native and has deliberately chosen Dusseldorf as the headquarters for his company “Helpcheck”, a startup assisting clients in enforcing restitutions from contractual disclaimers. “Dusseldorf has proven to be a great choice for us,” he explains, “many law firms and chambers we cooperate with are based here, resulting in synergy effects not thinkable elsewhere. On top of that, there’s a great dynamic emerging in Dusseldorf right now – we cherish that atmosphere, of course.”
The Impact on Commercial Real Estate Markets
Dusseldorf’s growth in the business and startup sector has direct consequences for the commercial real estate market. Dr André Helf, CEO of COLLECTION Business Center Group, offers insight: “Dusseldorf’s vacancy rate is extremely low, demand is strong – those factors are driving rents to record highs, straining the capital cover of many startups; particularly if they are stuck with old-fashioned, long-term rental contracts and unforeseeable financial burdens. This is where we can offer help: We are currently operating two top-of-the-line business centers in Dusseldorf, one is located in the historic landmark building “Dreischeibenhaus” in the heart of downtown, the other in the “Three Georges Building” on Kaiserswerther Strasse. In both our business centers we follow our trademark operational standards: Short term leases are available, as are short-notice room alignments according to our clients’ needs and financial scope. We understand that flexibility is a top priority for many young entrepreneurs. Our experience with startups has been great, and we are happy to do all we can to turn their enterprises into success stories.”
The startup scene in North Rhine-Westphalia’s state capital Dusseldorf is booming – a scenario Peer Schulz views as a great opportunity: “In my opinion, there have never been better times to start a business,” he says in an interview with the online portal “startup-city.de”, “especially Dusseldorf offers plenty of events, parties, and networking-mixers for people interested in getting a start-up off the ground.”
Torsten Jensen represents the North Rhine-Westphalia section of the German Start-Up Association – he believes that the positive developments have only just begun, and in an interview with the Düsseldorf broadsheet Rheinische Post a few weeks ago he emphasizes the advantages of the region: “We believe that there’s still a lot of untapped potential. Economically, the Dusseldorf area reports sound growth. Many companies and subsidiaries are very close, you can practically ride a bike from meeting to meeting.”
Andreas Pinkwart from the liberal party FDP is Secretary for Energy, Economics, Innovation and Digitization in North Rhine-Westphalia’s state government. He supports the developments: “North Rhine-Westphalia is on its way to become Germany’s number one startup base. We will assist in any way we can, for example by lowering bureaucratic hurdles. A big step ahead is our electronic commerce registration system.”
A few miles up the River Rhine, Cologne is also reporting rapidly growing startup numbers. There, commercial real estate is also in high demand, Cologne’s vacancy rate is close to zero. Dr Helf is glad to help alleviate the pressure there as well: “We’re very happy about our new business center at Wallarkaden, which will open in 2019. That’ll be a great opportunity for startups to find office space with little financial risk.”
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