Munich: A thriving hub for AI startups

AI startups flourishing

This year the Munich based appliedAI Institute for Europe has again published the German AI Startup Landscape - Germany's most important and comprehensive analysis of the AI startup scene. The study shows that the scene is growing rapidly: while last year there were 508 startups, this year there are already more than 680 German startups developing new AI applications - an increase of 35 percent within one year.

The leading hotspot for AI startups in Germany is once again Berlin with 209 startups, followed by Munich with 136. Hamburg is in third place with 66 AI startups.

For the German AI Startup Landscape, the appliedAI Institute for Europe, together with Deutsche Telekom, NVIDIA, Intel, UnternehmerTUM and eleven renowned venture capital firms, analyzed more than 1,000 AI startups. All startups were founded in 2014 or later, have a primarily AI-based business model and are headquartered in Germany.

Startup Büro © Christian Kasper, München Tourismus

Photo: Christian Kasper, München Tourismus

Promising AI startups from Munich

A jury of experts also analyzed which AI startups had the most potential and selected the 27 most promising young companies.

It is particularly pleasing for Munich that ten of the 27 top startups come from the city:

Celus: Automates the development of electronic components with AI-generated circuit diagrams and PCB layouts.
Certivity: Digitalises, simplifies and accelerates the review of regulations for engineers.
Fernride: Develops autopilots for trucks to move lorries remotely at logistics yards or to drive autonomously from A to B.
Floy: Equips radiologists with an AI assistant whose algorithms search for abnormalities in MRI images and alert doctors to them.
Helsing: Develops AI for radar data analysis and self-protection measures for military systems such as Eurofighter and Rheinmetall.
Orbem: Combines AI with imaging methods to improve industrial processes, for example to monitor the quality of nuts in food production.
OroraTech: Builds its own satellite constellation to analyse satellite images in real time in order to detect fires at an early stage and enable rapid responses.
Remberg: Provides a platform for medium-sized machine manufacturers to optimise after-sales service. The solution helps to monitor the machine inventory and plan maintenance work more efficiently
Tacto: Provides supply chain optimisation software to reduce procurement costs and make supply chains resilient.
Trail ML: Helps companies develop trustworthy AI by helping developers build AI applications in compliance with the European Union's AI law.

Ideal conditions

This impressive performance shows Munich's standing as a major AI hub. As one of Europe's leading technology hubs, Munich provides the perfect environment for AI innovation to thrive.

Various players - from innovative startups to large digital corporations - are developing AI technologies here (in some cases jointly). The rich university landscape with top universities such as the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) is particularly important. There are also internationally renowned research institutions such as the Fraunhofer and Max Planck Societies as well as the Munich Centre for Machine Learning (MCML), founded in 2018, which are driving forward research and development in AI. In addition, numerous active initiatives and measures promote the development and pooling of AI expertise in science and research.

About appliedAI Institute for Europe

Founded in 2017, the non-profit appliedAI Institute for Europe is Europe's largest initiative for the application of cutting-edge trustworthy AI technology, with the vision of shaping Europe's innovative power in the field of AI and thus contributing to Europe's technological sovereignty. The ultimate goal is to establish a sustainable and responsible approach to AI that puts people and their values at the centre.