The startup scene in Germany

A 2025 study by the Aachen Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) covered Aachen, Düren, Euskirchen, and Heinsberg, rather than Aachen city alone. It counted 2,505 technology-oriented companies in its chamber district at the end of 2024 and 949 company formations in 2020–2024, nearly 66% more than in 2015–2019. These are regional figures, not city-only counts. [1][2][3]

RWTH Innovation says cylib commercializes nearly a decade of research at RWTH’s Institute for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (IME); it also reports that cylib completed a €55 million Series A co-led by World Fund and Porsche Ventures and launched Battery Circle Aachen with local battery startups. [4][5][6]

Handelsblatt reported that Black Semiconductor’s 2024 financing included nearly €229 million in public support and around €26 million in venture capital, with Porsche Ventures and Project A Ventures leading the round. In 2025, Handelsblatt reported that Black’s optical chip links had not yet been achieved at industrial scale and that the company won The Spark. [7][8][9][10]

Other documented ecosystem activity includes Voltfang’s announcement that its Future Fab opened in Aachen on August 20, 2025, and digitalHUB’s reporting that startups, small and midsize businesses, and industry use digitalCHURCH for exchange projects and networking events. digitalHUB directs founders to book coaching, but its published evidence does not specify current cohort intake. [11][12][13]