AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025
Showcasing Hesse´s most innovative AI startups
Data accumulated from our programs, dealroom and LinkedIn for all 237 AI startups.
The AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025 is a project driven by several Hessian startup support institutions and initiated by hessian.AI. Our aim is to enhance the visibility of Hesse’s growing AI startup ecosystem while creating more opportunities for partnerships and innovation. This edition highlights both established AI startups and early-stage, pre-founding teams to showcase future potential.
What’s New in 2025?
For the first time, our mapping of active AI startups in Hesse is accompanied by a data analysis. This adds evidence-based insights into growth dynamics, sector shifts, and emerging hotspots. However, due to the high dynamics of the AI startup scene – especially among young startups – the data analysis represents only a snapshot. Startups not found on the website but that should be listed are asked to fill out the survey on the website and contact aisr@hessian.AI by email.
Our Objectives
Beyond mapping the ecosystem, the 2025 edition aims to:
- Catalyze targeted matchmaking between startups, corporates, and investors.
- Accelerate research-to-venture transition (spin-offs, IP support, testbeds).
- Champion responsible, human-centered AI, including guidance on EU AI Act readiness.
- Broaden access to talent and diversity in the founder community.
- Support internationalization and capital access.
- Provide transparent year-over-year metrics and insights to track Hesse’s progress.
Powered by the Ecosystem
In collaboration with partners from research, business, and government,
hessian.AI | The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence and AI Startup Rising seek to strengthen and expand AI competencies in Hesse. We aim to establish an internationally recognized AI innovation ecosystem, leveraging the region’s leading AI research to support sustainable, high-tech, and deep-tech startups—attracting top talent, investors, and companies to the region.
AN INITIATIVE OF
FUNDED BY
MAIN PARTNER
IN COOPERATION WITH
Become part of the AI Startup Landscape Hesse –
and get noticed by investors and potential partners!
Our selection of the AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025
CLUSTERING LOGIC
In the AI Startup Landscape Hesse, the clustering logic is designed to strike a balance between industry alignment and technological innovation. While companies often identify themselves based on the industries they serve, investors are typically more interested in the degree of innovation and the specific type of AI technology involved. As a result, the categorization follows a hybrid approach:
- AI startups with a clear industry focus—those serving exclusively one sector—are grouped according to their respective industries.
- AI startups that either advance AI technology itself, enable its adoption, or whose solutions target multiple industries or developers are assigned to one of three technology-driven clusters: Deep Tech Software, AI Applications, and AI Infrastructure.
This clustering method differs from the approach of the appliedAI Institute for Europe in the German AI Startup Landscape, where the primary focus is on the deep-tech quality and scalability potential of AI startups at a national level. In contrast, the Hessian landscape aims to provide a more nuanced view by considering both industry orientation and technological depth.
The AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025 is organized into the following 15 clusters:
- AI Application
- AI Infrastructure
- Consulting
- Deep Tech Software
- Education & EdTech
- Energy & Environment
- Fintech & Legal Tech
- Health & Life Sciences
- Human Resources & Recruiting
- Industry, Manufacturing & Engineering
- Marketing & Media
- Real Estate & Construction
- Robotics & Space
- Sports & Leisure
- Transportation, Mobility & Logistics
Given the diversity of startups and projects, fitting them neatly into rigid industry and cluster categories is challenging. However, we have made an effort to do so in order to provide a convenient overview and to simplify navigation through the landscape. We welcome any comments or suggestions for improvement.
Sie sehen gerade einen Platzhalterinhalt von Standard. Um auf den eigentlichen Inhalt zuzugreifen, klicken Sie auf den Button unten. Bitte beachten Sie, dass dabei Daten an Drittanbieter weitergegeben werden.
Weitere InformationenKEY INSIGHTS 2025
Key Numbers and Trends
- 237 AI startups are listed in 2025, up 43% from 166 in 2024. However, 30 startups from the previous year were removed due to inactivity, exits, or age.
- The majority of startups are in the seed phase (50.6%), with very few in late growth or mature stages.
- Most teams are small: over half have 2–10 employees, and only a handful have more than 50.
- Estimated total jobs created by these startups range from 2,000 to 7,100, with a realistic midpoint of about 4,500.
Geographic and Sectoral Distribution
- 89% of startups are based in Hesse, with Frankfurt and Darmstadt accounting for about 70% of all mentions. Kassel forms a smaller cluster, while the rest are spread across many locations—a classic “long tail” effect.
- The landscape is organized into 15 clusters, with the largest being Marketing & Media, AI Application, Health & Life Sciences, and Energy & Environment.
- Frankfurt is a hub for Marketing & Media and AI Application, while Darmstadt leads in Deep Tech, Energy & Environment, and Industry/Manufacturing.
Funding Insights
- Of the 237 startups, 84 have reported funding, totaling approximately €410 million. The average funding per funded startup is €4.88 million, but the median is much lower (~€700k), indicating a few large outliers skew the average.
- The funding landscape is seed-heavy: 58% of rounds are under €1 million, and only 12% exceed €5 million.
- Funding is highly concentrated, with the top 10 rounds accounting for 85% of the total volume.
- Compared to 2024, total funding has increased, but the inclusion of major outliers (for example CLARK) significantly affects year-to-year comparisons.
Impact of Universities and Programs
- Around 40% of startups have a university affiliation. Overall, scientific institutions—especially TU Darmstadt—play a central role in driving the Hessian AI startup ecosystem, with Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Kassel also contributing to the region’s innovation pipeline.
- More than half of 62 surveyed startups have participated in at least one funding or accelerator program, with regional programs being particularly prominent.
Diversity and Team Composition
- Of 55 startups providing gender data, 22% have at least one female founder, slightly above national averages but highlighting ongoing gender gaps, especially in technical and capital-intensive sectors.
Challenges and Outlook
- Qualitative interviews reveal that access to investors is not the main barrier; rather, challenges include conservative corporate mindsets, regulatory hurdles, and macroeconomic uncertainties.
- The ecosystem is dynamic but still young, with most startups founded in the last five years. After a peak in 2021, growth has stabilized, possibly indicating a phase of consolidation and professionalization.
Conclusion
The AI startup ecosystem in Hesse is rapidly growing, diverse, and research-driven, with strong university ties and a broad base of early-stage companies. While funding and team sizes remain modest for most, a few high-profile startups attract significant investment. The region’s strengths lie in its academic infrastructure and targeted support programs, but challenges remain in scaling, diversity, and navigating regulatory and market barriers.
For more details download the hessian.AI Startup Insights.
Methodology
Scouting and Outreach:
With the support of our partners, we conducted targeted outreach to AI startups, inviting them to participate in a comprehensive survey. Futury, HIGHEST, Science Park Kassel, STATION, and TechQuartier, especially, provided valuable recommendations for the initial selection of potential startups.
Collection and Initial Assessment:
The initial list was refined through analysis by hessian.AI and feedback from bmh, ensuring both local expertise and ecosystem perspectives were incorporated.
Data Integration:
All collected data, including survey responses, partner recommendations, and expert feedback—was combined with data retrieved via APIs (e.g., Dealroom) and complementary web research to ensure a comprehensive overview of the AI startup landscape.
Validation and Quality Assurance:
A critical review and verification of the data was conducted by data analysts using clearly defined criteria. A final cross-check by hessian.AI ensured the reliability of the dataset.
Alignment with Proven Methods and Unique Features:
The AI Startup Landscape Hesse builds on the methodological approach of the appliedAI Institute for Europe and their “German AI Startup Landscape.” The appliedAI Institute for Europe gGmbH is supported by the IPAI Foundation gGmbH. While appliedAI Institute for Europe primarily highlights the most promising and already incorporated German AI startups, our approach focuses on the development of the entire Hessian AI startup ecosystem.
The AI Startup landscape Hesse not only showcases DeepTechs but also startups and young entrepreneurs whose business models are based on AI. In addition, early-stage projects that are not yet incorporated are welcome—as long as they demonstrate tangible progress and a foreseeable path to founding.
Dataset
To build the dataset, we combined multiple sources: a startup survey (82 responses), inputs from ecosystem partners—especially to capture very early-stage projects—and data retrieved via Dealroom. Of the 82 survey participants, 62 qualified for inclusion in the AI Startup Landscape Hesse. Additionally, 28 qualitative interviews with AI startups were conducted to contextualize the data and validate emerging patterns.
Although this triangulation provides a broad and reliable picture, the AI startup scene is highly dynamic, and absolute completeness cannot be ensured. Startups may apply at any time throughout the year to be included in the online version of AI Startup Landscape Hesse.
- Location: Headquarters in Hesse; exceptions only for startups with a demonstrably close relationship to the Hessian ecosystem.
- Company age: Not older than 10 years at the time of assessment.
- AI core: AI must play a significant role in the company’s value proposition and/or technology stack.
- Business model: Product- and service-based AI startups are both eligible. Consulting or integration-focused startups are included under the “Consulting” cluster, provided they also offer AI-driven products to their clients.
- Stage: Early-stage projects that have not yet founded a company as a legal entity are welcome, provided there is tangible progress and founding is foreseeable.
- Evaluation: Nominations and applications are screened by analysts from hessian.AI. Feedback from partners is incorporated; final decisions are made by AI Startup Rising and hessian.AI experts.
Do the above-mentioned criteria apply to your startup as well?
Then fill out the following questionnaire about your startup and apply automatically for the next selection of the AI Startup Landscape Hesse.
Use of the AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025
As a publicly funded initiative supported by the State of Hessen and the Federal Government, we aim to make information about the AI startup ecosystem freely available. The use of the AI Startup Landscape Hessen as part of a presentation, lecture, or project is expressly permitted and encouraged, provided that the visual representation is used and appropriate attribution is given to us. Changes to the AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025 must be clearly marked as your own modifications.
The content of this insight is published under CC BY 4.0.
AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025 © 2025 by hessian.AI | The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Contact Information
With the AI Startup Landscape Hesse, we want to shine a spotlight on AI startups in the Hessian ecosystem and bring its various players together. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us:
DISCLAIMER
The data used in the AI Startup Landscape Hesse 2025 were collected and evaluated to the best of our knowledge at the time of preparation. While we strive for accuracy and reliability, errors, omissions, or inaccuracies may occur; therefore, we cannot guarantee completeness, correctness, or timeliness.
The content is for general information only and does not constitute professional or legal advice. Any reliance on this information is at your own risk. Please verify critical information through additional sources or consult appropriate experts before making decisions or taking action.
