Top 10 Biggest Companies in Berlin

In Germany, each city is a hub of activity for particular industries. For example, Frankfurt am Main is the banking capital, where you’ll find the headquarters for numerous international banks from around the world.  And Munich, in Bavaria, is known for its automotive industry with huge German companies like BMW and Audi.

While Berlin is technically the capital of Germany, its turbulent history has kept a lot of these more serious industries from setting up shop. So, when we look at the biggest companies in Berlin, the top ten are mostly part of the infrastructure of the city. That being, government/state services, grocery stores, and public transport companies. This is not the most interesting snapshot of the city, as we miss what makes this capital unique and attractive to jobseekers — and that’s Berlin’s tech scene.

In this article, we’ll share the biggest companies in Berlin by the number of employees and the then the biggest by valuation. This way, we get a snapshot of legacy companies and the newer, more successful tech companies that have emerged over the past 20 years.

By Number of Employees

Let’s start with companies in Berlin that employ the most people in the city. As we mentioned earlier, the top ten (see below) are mostly companies tied to the infrastructure of the city and state. Deutsche Bahn (public train system) is the largest employer in Berlin with around 23,000 employees, next is Charité (one of the largest university hospitals in Europe) which employs 21,000 people and then Vivantes (a state-owned hospital group) with 18,000. The top five companies in Berlin are state-owned and funded.

Top 100 Companies Berlin (2021)

By Valuation

If you’re a skilled jobseeker wondering what Berlin has to offer, state-owned companies are probably not at the top of your list (and you’re not likely to find employment there). Better that you look at successful for-profit companies that aren’t affiliated with the German government. Luckily, Berlin has one of the largest tech scenes in Europe, and while they don’t have as many employees, tech companies create for about 30% of all jobs created in Berlin’s ecosystem. Unicorns (companies valued above $1B) are the biggest employers in tech – Zalando actually made both of these lists!

In this list, we’ll be looking at the top tech companies with their headquarters in Berlin by valuation (which excludes international corporates).

This is the most current data from Dealroom (2023)