An analysis of the evolution and socio-economic impact of Business Incubators in Germany

In recent years increasing attention has been paid to entrepreneurship and related support activities as a driver of economic and social development. A particularly important area in this sense is that of Business Incubation (BI): a growing and evolving sector, in particular with the emergences of new business models and the entry of subjects attentive to the social and environmental impact of companies. Also, thanks to its sophisticated BIs landscape, Germany is one of Europe major economies, its degree of international visibility has increased significantly, and internationally competitive ecosystem have arisen with Berlin, the Rhine-Ruhr region and Munich. Hence, BIs have a clear position in sustaining and favouring German economy. This work focuses on analysing the BIs’ landscape of Germany and it is part of a series of other similar analyses carried out in 2019 concerning other European countries (i.e. France, UK, Italy and Spain). The analyses have been performed in collaboration with the Social Innovation Monitor (SIM), a team of researchers and professors from various universities, and the German start-up association, "Bundesverband Deutsche Startups". In particular, the purpose of this study is first to realize an updated mapping at a national level of the German incubation activities, as well of the organisations performing these activities; second, to analyse the differences between types of BIs, their business models and their service portfolios; third, to investigate the peculiarities and challenges faced by social incubators; finally, to carry out an initial verification of the effectiveness of the support given by BIs to start-ups.