Germany's economy is characterised by decentralisation and small and middle-sized family business, the so called Mittelstand. Germany is home to a significant portion of the world's 'hidden champions'[1], which as the name suggests, largely fly under the radar of the consumer focussed start up sector.

Startups mostly profit from access to homogenous large consumer markets and extreme clusters. Neither has ever been the goal of German economic development, largely because it's incompatible with the sort of cultural values German's consider important.

[1] https://hbr.org/1992/03/lessons-from-germanys-midsize-giants