Germany unveils Startup & Scaleup Strategy targeting defence and venture capital

The German federal cabinet approved a new "Startup and Scaleup Strategy" aimed at strengthening innovative firms during their growth phase. For the first time the programme places security and defence companies in the centre of state support, creating a direct financing instrument that can take equity stakes in such startups.

The strategy expands the "Deutschlandfonds" – a guarantee scheme that could mobilise up to €130 billion of private capital for future and infrastructure projects – and introduces venture‑capital options in private pension schemes. It also calls for a major bureaucracy overhaul through the "Schneller Gründen" project, which will digitise administrative procedures and propose a uniform European legal form to ease cross‑border activities. With around 150 measures, the government seeks to prevent promising startups from moving abroad and to draw more private investment into Germany’s innovation ecosystem.