This year more than 2.000 startups participated with more than 5.000 founders. In total the startups have more than 33.000 employees. On average the participating startups are a bit over 2 ½ years old and are mostly located in Berlin and NRW (Nordrheinwestfalen, one of Germany’s states). NRW is Germany’s largest state by population. It is also home to the Rhein-Ruhr metropolitan region, one of the world’s 40 largest Metropolitan Regions.