Observed Signal · Mar 14, 2025 · Policy Update · Source: Trending Topics · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
German Startup Association Launches 'Choose Germany' Initiative with Six Demands
Germany's Startup Association, together with leading entrepreneurs and investors, launched the 'Choose Germany' initiative on March 14, 2025. The petition calls on the next federal government to place innovation and startup policy at the center of its agenda, arguing that the current coalition exploratory results by CDU/CSU and SPD are insufficient. Six demands include mobilizing more institutional capital for growth companies, promoting DeepTech fields such as AI, space, bio and quantum technologies, modernizing state administration with a Digital Ministry, enforcing the Digital Markets Act against BigTech dominance, ensuring digital sovereignty through a coherent data, cloud and data-center strategy, and attracting international talent through simpler immigration and visa processes. The initiative is backed by 64 named initiators including Frank Thelen, David Schneider, Carsten Maschmeyer, Miriam Wohlfarth and Miriam Meckel.
A major German startup association petition with six policy demands could influence the next government's digital agenda, including DMA enforcement and digital sovereignty, but has no immediate commercial impact.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- The German Startup Association launched the 'Choose Germany' petition on March 14, 2025.
- The initiative presents six concrete demands for Germany's next federal government.
- The petition was co-initiated by Frank Thelen, David Schneider, Carsten Maschmeyer, Miriam Wohlfarth, and Miriam Meckel.
- Demands include enforcing the Digital Markets Act and creating a Digital Ministry for administration modernization.
- The initiative calls for a coherent German data, cloud, and data-center strategy for digital sovereignty.
Connected Companies & Entities
1 Entity mapped“The initiative was co-initiated by Zalando co-founder David Schneider....”
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