The core message of the keynote was that Germany has a strong startup foundation, but must close the gap between founding companies and scaling them into globally competitive businesses. The moderator framed the problem with startup ecosystem growth figures, noting that Germany is producing many promising companies but not enough later-stage scale-ups. Stefan Rouenhoff, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, then positioned the federal government’s new startup and scale-up strategy as the response: more than 150 measures intended to address barriers including financing, internationalization, and bureaucracy reduction.

Rouenhoff opened by emphasizing confidence in Germany as both a place to start and grow companies. He cited record startup formation, saying more than 3,500 startups were founded last year and more than 3,000 were built in the first six months of 2026, with more than a thousand focused on artificial intelligence. He argued that Germany is not lacking ideas, founders, or ambition. To make that point concrete, he referenced companies working in battery recycling, fusion energy, manufacturing drones, and alternatives to conventional plastics, including Cylib, Proxima Fusion, Focused Energy, Titan, and traceless. Across those examples, he highlighted founder passion, optimism, and belief in what technology can achieve.

The keynote then moved from momentum to the central challenge: starting is not enough. Rouenhoff said Germany needs more startups to become scale-ups, more scale-ups to become global champions, and more of that growth to happen inside Germany. He identified three recurring priorities from founder conversations: capital, room to grow, and customers. On capital, he said Germany has made progress, citing around 7.2 billion euros of venture capital last year and about 8 billion euros already by September this year. But he stressed that the real test comes at later stages, when companies need 100 million, 500 million, or more. International capital is welcome, he said, but Europe also needs to finance more of its own growth as a matter of choice and technological sovereignty.

Rouenhoff’s second focus was “room to grow,” which he defined as less bureaucracy and more freedom to build. He listed documentation, permits, tax procedures, multiple authorities, labor law, and data protection as cumulative burdens that cost founders time and energy better spent on product development, customer acquisition, and business growth. He applied that especially to AI and small and medium-sized companies, arguing that compliance can consume scarce resources through paperwork, legal advice, and administrative effort. The provided transcript ends while he is explaining the importance of making data protection rules clearer.