Top German Business Stories of 2024 – A Year in Review

12/15/24 • 30 min

INTO GERMANY! The German Business Podcast

Despite sluggish growth overall, the past twelve months featured a host of major business expansions and technological breakthroughs in Germany.

GDP may have stagnated, foreign direct investment continued apace in Europe’s largest economy. 2024 was a banner year for German pharma and artificial intelligence. The world’s largest IT companies invested heavily in data centers, and the government further relaxed entry regulations for international professionals with sought-after skills and launched massive infrastructure projects to provide the country with green energy. INTO GERMANY looks back at the year that was.

Our guests: Our year in review features leaders from business and politics and Germany Trade & Invest experts from a variety of fields.

Despite sluggish growth overall, the past twelve months featured a host of major business expansions and technological breakthroughs in Germany.

Our guests: Our year in review features leaders from business and politics and Germany Trade & Invest experts from a variety of fields.

Previous Episode

Finally Fintech – How Germany Caught On to Digital Finance

After some initial German skepticism, fintech solutions of various kinds are remaking how money is moved in Europe’s largest economy.

Germans may have taken a while to get used to cashless payment systems and other fintech applications, but they’re now rapidly becoming standard in both B2B and B2C. Where are the greatest opportunities and what does the future ho0ld in store? We speak to the head of Berlin’s new fintech hub and the strategy guru at a French neobank that has branched out to Germany.

Our guests: Sebastian Schäfer is an experienced entrepreneur and ecosystem builder and CEO at the newly established HoFT, the House of Finance and Tech in Berlin. Founded in spring 2024, it serves as a central hub within the city’s finance and tech ecosystem. Albertine Lecointe is Vice President of Strategy and Head of Strategic Management at French neobank Qonto, which expanded to Germany in 2020.

Next Episode

(Re-)Searching for New Ideas – Germany’s Unique R&D Landscape

Germany is known as a country that spends a lot on research and development. But the R&D environment is structured differently than elsewhere, offering specific advantages for businesses.

R&D in Germany has a long tradition. Its prestigious research institutes are known across the world. And no other European country invests more money in research and development – around 130 billion euros across all sectors in the last year for which figures are available. But part of Germany’s strength is its relatively decentralized, bottom-up orientation. A leader from Germany’s Ministry of Education and Research and a neurologist turned entrepreneur explain what makes R&D in Germany so special.

Our guests:

Professor Thomas Fritz leads the research group “Music Evoked Brain Plasticity“ at the Department of Neurology at the Max Planck Society. His research led him to the foundation of Jimmyn – a start-up based on a software that enables the conversion of bodily movements into music.

Armin Reinartz is Head of the Directorate-General “European and International Cooperation” at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.