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Young people are starting businesses at record rates. But many lack the knowledge to take the first step. What schools and policymakers can do now.
Away from the new season of “Dragons’ Den,” Germany’s startup landscape is undergoing a genuine structural shift, as 18- to 24-year-olds have become the age group most active in starting businesses.
As the new Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, commissioned by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, shows, the startup rate in this age group rose to 23.2% in 2025, a huge jump from the previous year (12.9%) and more than double the 2023 figure (11.0%). Nearly 40% of 14- to 25-year-olds also say they could imagine becoming self-employed; 9% have already made firm plans to start a business before their 30th birthday. School students and younger age groups show noticeably more enthusiasm than older generations.
Young people are rarely driven by dreams of quickly achieving a multimillion-euro valuation. Instead, they are motivated by a desire to shape things: For 88%, building independence comes first, while 76% simply want to bring their own ideas to life. When many ventures never reach the market, the reason is rarely a lack of venture capital. Rather, 75% of those interested in starting a business are stopped before taking the first step by a lack of knowledge about the startup process. According to experts, conventional support programs come too late at this stage. If Germany does not want this wave of entrepreneurship to fizzle out, it needs early opportunities for hands-on experience in schools, mentoring networks and fewer bureaucratic hurdles.
These topics also caught our attention:
Experience is experience: Student jobs outside your chosen field do not harm your career prospects. As FAZ reports (€), the key is to highlight transferable soft skills on your résumé in a targeted and credible way.
Left on Read: For many people starting their careers, being ghosted after applying for a job is an everyday experience. Franziska Martin explains what can help when an employer fails to respond in a new t3n guide.
Ready for an AI future: To prepare students for the digital workplace, more than 70% of university leaders see great potential in AI-supported self-study courses and personalized feedback. That is what the new HFD Monitor 2026 shows.
This text first appeared as an editorial in the weekly politjobs newsletter. If you would like to receive this newsletter with the latest jobs in politics by email every Wednesday, you can subscribe here .