Migrants are persons who do not have German citizenship or have not had it since birth. At the same time, someone is considered to have a migrant background if they or at least one parent was born without German citizenship.

The number of startups started by people with immigration backgrounds in Germany has increased dramatically, with a quarter of all four startups founded last year by people with an immigrant background, according to a new study by KfW Bank.

The proportion even increased significantly last year.

Last year, 605,000 startups were registered in Germany – and in around 160,000 cases, the founders had a migration background.

The proportion increased significantly by five percentage points to 26 percent compared to 2018, shows the evaluation of the KfW Start-up Monitor.

BioNTech is a Mainz-based company founded by a couple with Turkish roots that has gained worldwide attention thanks to its coronavirus vaccine.

This company was founded 12 years ago by oncologist Ugur Sahin and his wife Özlem Türeci. Sahin, who was born in Turkey and later came to Germany with his parents, earned his doctorate in Cologne. Türeci, who was born in Germany, earned her doctorate in Homburg in Saarland.

According to Köhler-Geib, chief economist at KfW, the innovative spirit and growth of migrants holds great opportunities.According to the study, migrants or people with a migration background are also more likely to become self-employed because they often have worse opportunities on the labor market than people without a migration background. So they have a higher willingness to take risks.

Startups are run by young businesses founded more than five years ago. They have a team of founders or employees and are innovation- or growth-oriented. Founders who meet the new challenges with innovative business ideas can be the big winners of tomorrow.

Many start-up projects have been put on hold because of the pandemic. “However, the crisis can also act as a catalyst for innovation,” Köhler-Geib said.