A recent representative Bitkom survey of 505 companies with at least 20 employees suggests that the majority of companies (65%) do not collaborate with young startups. Only 8% have a financial stake in innovative startups, while 28% cooperate with young companies in another way, such as through startup contests, for instance. It is mid-sized companies that are missing out here on an opportunity to drive forward their own digitalization through such collaborations. Just 14% of the companies surveyed stated that they are developing new products and services through a collaboration with a startup. And this despite the fact that the potential of such collaborations has long been emphasized vis-à-vis the challenges of digital transformation.

What is surprising are the reasons stated for this lack of cooperation: While 77% of companies stated that they have no contact with startups, 56% said they doubt they stand to gain anything from a collaboration or are not carrying out any projects requiring such support. Lack of time was the main reason given by 39% of the companies surveyed, while 27% lack the necessary budget.