Healthcare startups berlin ecosystem

The digital health ecosystem in Berlin is very vibrant. Berlin has the potential to become Europe's founding metropolis like New York in the USA. It is not for nothing that startups from the health sector are drawn to the capital.

As of 2019 there are 2,740 digital health companies based in German capital. Private companies, research institutes, clinics, service providers and established networks come together to form one of the biggest eHealth ecosystems in the world. In this article we review the main players and trends in this market.

Gathering more than 600 biotech, pharmaceutical, and medtech companies, as well as 130 hospitals, the region is also an important hub of the IT industry including a growing number of IT companies focused on the healthcare market.- Health Capital Berlin-Brandenburg

Big Pharma and Medical Technology companies

Germany is the biggest pharmaceutical market in the EU and is also a major player in pharmaceutical research. Round 300 medical technology companies are based in Berlin and Brandenburg. Mostly they are SMEs specialising  in geriatric medicine and gerontology, cardiovascular diseases, neurology, oncology, and orthopaedics. However, there are some major internationals, notably Bayer, who are hosting healthcare events.

Digital Health accelerators and incubators

Berlin is full of founders and people ready to invest. In 2018, venture capitalists invested around 2.6 billion Euro in Berlin. It is exactly the right environment for implementing your business idea. To do so you can choose from around 60 accelerators across the city.

Healthcare accelerators and incubators in Berlin can be divided into 3 groups:

1. Those hosted by bigger companies looking for innovation e.g. Pfizer, Helios or Bayer
2. Accelerators next to universities, like TU and Charité.
3. Specialised digital health accelerators such as Startupbootcamp's Digital Health Berlin.

We would recommend taking a closer look at Bayer's Grants4Apps Accelerator, helios.hub, Pfizer's Healthcare Hub Berlin, the Flying Health Incubator, and the Startupbootcamp Digital Health Berlin. Recently we also shared a blogpost about the most interesting digital health accelerators in the EU.

Medtech startups

Every 10 minutes new startup is registered in Berlin. Honeypot research reveals 56% of Berlin’s startups are in the former east of the city, clustered around the famous Torstrasse, otherwise known as Silicon Allee.

Berlin Partner has a great tool that shows exact number of startups and their locations. In recent years some of interesting healthcare startups emerged in the city such as.....

Other key clusters

There are six technology parks in Berlin, home to a significant number of eHealth companies. Berlin also hosts over 130 hospitals, 30 prevention and rehabilitation clinics that are keen to cooperate with innovators. The world-famous Charité hospital is a hotbed of innovation and even has its own Technology Transfer department.