Berlin wants to replace Munich as the start-up capital

Berlin. Neukölln is the new Mitte, at least for Berlin start-ups. Here, right next to the popular Stadtbad and very close to Sonnenallee with its baklava and junk shops, Julian Teicke is currently setting up a new start-up centre. "I love this city so much," says the co-founder of insurance start-up Wefox.

Ten years ago, Berlin was the city that attracted every German founder. That was the time when the Samwer brothers dominated the scene with their start-up group Rocket Internet and made companies such as Hellofresh, Zalando and Delivery Hero big. "Today, it's no longer so obvious that you should found your start-up in Berlin," says Teicke. And considers that fatal.

That is why he co-initiated the Delta Campus and the "Berlin on the One" campaign. One thing is already certain: The vision does not end at the Delta Campus in Neukölln, but has its origins here. Because, like Teicke, many entrepreneurs are currently working on Berlin's comeback as a start-up capital.

How realistic is this - and what hurdles await along the way? To find the answers, Handelsblatt has spent the past few weeks talking to founders, investors and politicians. The result is a picture of a city with great potential - but also of the hurdles on the way to realising it.

To celebrate the launch of the "Berlin auf die Eins" campaign with hoodies and co., the first guard of Berlin investors and founders meet in Neukölln at the Delta Campus on a grey, snowy February evening. Among them are the heads of AI start-ups N8N and Peec AI, Jan Oberhauser and Marius Meiners, as well as Daniel Khachab from the catering platform Choco.