Business development secures 8,900 jobs in Hamburg

Rolf Strittmatter, Managing Director of Hamburg Invest, added: "We achieved a very good annual result with an investment volume of EUR 502 million - especially against the backdrop of subdued investment given the high interest rates, price increases in construction and energy costs. Our focus on innovative companies with high added value per job help strengthens our innovative location both structurally and sustainably. It creates the best conditions for meeting the dynamic demands of the market and enables future growth."

Apart from 45 new companies relocating to Hamburg, Hamburg Invest also lent its support to 40 expansion projects in the city. Thirty-one foreign companies chose to relocate to Hamburg. In addition to markets in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, Hamburg Invest is increasingly active in Singapore, the United States, Britain, Poland, Turkey as well as Austria and Switzerland. "The Scandinavian countries are among the top 10 in the Global Innovation Index year on year and are seen as pioneers of innovative concepts in digitalisation and mobility," said Strittmatter. The Fehmarn tunnel will bring northern Europe and Hamburg even closer together. Earlier in 2019, Hamburg Invest established a strategic pillar of German-Swedish economic relations when it helped set up a branch of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hamburg. The chamber’s 110 members include major players such as Vattenfall and Securitas.

A hydrogen corridor from Hamburg via Copenhagen to Oslo is currently under construction and the region is being branded as a green hub. Environment-friendly initiatives and investments are also being developed. The decision by Sweden’s Northvolt to build a gigafactory for battery cells in Heide with headquarters in Hamburg, and in which Hamburg Invest played a key role, is an example of the power of north Germany. Other companies such as the fintech Stock Republic and the IT company Consid have also moved to Hamburg. The latter is one the fastest growing companies in northern Europe and sets up digital business models based on its customers’ wishes. "We opted to expand to Hamburg because it is the economic centre of northern Europe. Due to its proximity to Scandinavia, interest in Swedish business culture and the experience of Swedish values in business relations is very high," said Patrik Hall, CEO of Consid.

Scandinavian scale-ups are also showing interest in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Since 2022, such companies have been particularly active in the "Scaleup Landing Pad" scheme. It has attracted growing international start-ups in the mobility, logistics, energy and construction sectors making them potential settlement candidates and helps them set up a branch in Hamburg. Demand among founders remains strong, according to Hamburg Invest's Startup Unit which has notched up over 200 consultations. Hamburg's start-up ecosystem is marketed internationally through a large number of trade fairs and events such as the Hamburg Copenhagen Startup Forum, the Nordic Startup Challenge or the Slush fair for founders in Helsinki, the Web Summit in Lisbon or Viva Technology in Paris. The online platform "Startup City Hamburg", managed by Hamburg Invest, links up founders and offers an overview of funding opportunities in the city.

Hamburg Invest brokered 24.1 hectares of commercial space to companies last year. Of this, around 7.8 hectares were privately owned and around 16.3 hectares urban-owned. Hamburg Invest also allocated 7.9 hectares directly. Since May 2018, a total of 51 hectares have been allocated in 51 projects of which 68 per cent are leasehold. The development of the Bergedorf Innovation Park was a top priority in 2023. Körber Technologies opted to relocate and restructure its factory there. Hamburg Invest also created the forward-looking tecHHub in the Altona Innovation Park for the life sciences industry with around 5,600 m² of laboratory and office space.
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