Fichter, K., Neumann, T., Olteanu, Y., Grothey, T., & Block, J. (2026). Green Startup Report 2026. Borderstep Institute. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18956227

The Green Startup Report 2026, published by the Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability, analyzes the current development of the green startup landscape in Germany and continues the scientific observation of the scene that has been carried out continuously since 2013.

The long-term perspective enables a reliable classification of structural trends, technological developments, and changes in startup dynamics. The report builds on the previous projects, the Green Economy Startup Monitor (2013–2017) and the Green Startup Monitor (2019–2024). It expands upon these with new methodological approaches and data sources.

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The transition to a climate-neutral and resource-efficient economy increasingly depends on the innovative strength of young companies. Green startups are developing technologies and business models that reduce emissions, secure resources, and redefine industrial value creation.

The new Green Startup Report from the Borderstep Institute shows that the green startup landscape in Germany has continued to grow and possesses strong technological innovation capabilities and measurable climate mitigation potential. At the same time, current data indicates a decline in startup momentum for the first time in years.

Scientific assessment of the green startup scene in Germany

The report is based on the ongoing scientific assessment of the green startup scene in Germany since 2013. This long-term data collection enables a reliable analysis of structural trends, market developments, and changes in startup activity. The Green Startup Report 2026 thus provides a key data foundation for policy strategies, funding decisions, and investment trends in the field of sustainable innovation.

Green Startup Report 2026: Key Findings

Growth momentum slows

Although the overall community of green startups has continued to grow, their relative importance is declining. This can be seen in the share of green startups among new business launches in 2023, 2024, and 2025. While green startups accounted for just under 20% of all new companies founded in 2023, this share dropped significantly to 13% in 2025. This means that of the startups founded in 2025, only 13% could be classified as green.

The absolute number of green startups has also declined over the past two years. This figure fell from 375 in 2023 to 313 in 2024 and 206 in 2025. The figures provided here refer to clearly classified green startups.

The reversal in the trend of annual new startups is evident in nearly all federal states, and is particularly pronounced in the startup hotspots of Berlin and Bavaria. A declining share of green startups can also be observed among startups that have received investment.

Reasons for the declining share of green startups among new businesses

Through interviews with experts from the startup ecosystem, we sought to identify the reasons behind the declining share of green startups among new businesses over the past two years. The results of this qualitative analysis show that the decline in the importance of green startups among new companies cannot be explained by a single cause, but rather represents the interplay of various factors. Three factors stand out here:

• Shifts in focus toward other key topics (e.g., AI, security) are altering startup decisions as well as funding and investment logic
• Demand and market uncertainties reduce willingness to pay and market access for sustainable solutions, particularly for cost-intensive business models
• Regulatory volatility and uncertainty increase planning risks and exacerbate declines, particularly in regulated and capital-intensive industries

These factors do not operate in isolation but reinforce one another, and their impact has been particularly pronounced since 2023.

Shifts in industry structure

There are clear shifts in the distribution of green startups across various industries. While the energy sector has once again become significantly more important among green startups (here, the share rose from 17% for startups founded in 2022/2023 to 25% for those founded in 2024/2025), the traditionally strong “environmental technology” sector has lost considerable ground. One reason for this could be that the latter is increasingly being integrated into other technology sectors.

Green goes digital: A shift in business models

The production and distribution of green technologies (physical products) remains the most prevalent business model. 41% of all green startups founded in 2024 and 2025 focus on this area. This percentage has remained largely unchanged compared to previous years. In contrast, the share of SaaS models among newly founded green startups has risen sharply from 19% in the 2022/2023 cohorts to 33% in the 2024/2025 cohorts. This points to increasing digitalization in green business models. At the same time, service-based and retail-oriented business models are losing relative significance.

Economic and environmental dividends: green impact unicorns at work

The GSR provides globally unique data on the climate protection potential of young, innovative companies. Validated impact data from the Borderstep Institute show that the climate mitigation potential of green startups varies widely, ranging from a few hundred tons of CO₂e per year to high-impact startups that, thanks to their high technological and scaling potential, can save hundreds of thousands of tons of CO₂e annually and thus qualify as green impact unicorns. On average, green startups reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70% compared to standard market products and technologies.

Green Startup Report 2026: Figures

The green startup community has continued to grow

The total number of green startups has continued to grow. The total number of green startups founded in Germany over a 10-year period has risen by 6% from approximately 4,400 startups (covering the years 2015–2024) to just under 4,700 green startups (covering the years 2016–2025). This points to a stable green startup community. However, this continued growth is not due to an increase in the number of new startups, but rather to the fact that older cohorts with fewer startups are being phased out of the analysis and replaced by more recent years with higher startup counts.

These federal states are green hotspots

Green startups are heavily concentrated in just a few German states. Berlin (19.7%), Bavaria (19.6%), and North Rhine-Westphalia (17.3%) together account for more than half of all green startups under ten years old in Germany. In terms of the share of green startups among all startups in a state, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania remains the clear leader at 28%, followed by Bremen (26%), Brandenburg (19%), and Schleswig-Holstein (19%).

Patents highlight the technological innovation strength of green startups

35% of green startups that have received investment hold at least one patent. This proportion is significantly higher than the European average for investment-backed startups, among which approximately 14% have filed a patent application (EPO & EUIPO, 2023). The high proportion of patents highlights the strong technological focus of green startups. It underscores their unique role as drivers of knowledge-intensive, research-based, and legally protected environmental innovations.

Sustainable startups are particularly attractive to investors

Green startups secure their first round of external funding significantly earlier than non-green startups. After 30 months, more than one in three green startups has completed an initial funding round, compared to only about one in four non-green startups. The time advantage of green startups underscores their appeal to investors (a key finding from the previous year (GSR 2025, p. 14)).

Green startups rely on diverse teams

At 22%, the proportion of women in the management of green startups founded in 2025 is significantly higher than in non-green startups (16%). This significant difference is a “tradition” among green startups. The clear disparity was already evident in the ten preceding cohorts. After founding, the proportion continues to rise: Thus, it is significantly more common for green startups than for non-green startups that management teams initially composed entirely of men are subsequently bolstered by women.

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