Startup Talent Impact Report — ABCD Agency

ABCD Report · 2026

Where startup talent actually goes.

A data-driven look at what happens to the people behind Europe’s most ambitious startups — the companies they join, the cities they land in, and the ventures they go on to build.

878 alumni analysed 686 destination companies 37 founders Berlin · April 2026

Startup Talent Impact Report — First round: Omio

The Startup Talent Impact Report by Berlin-based data-driven marketing agency ABCD looks at what happens to employees after they leave high-growth startups. Using publicly available data, the report shows where alumni go next — the companies, industries and cities they move into — and how many become founders themselves.

What is Omio? Omio is a Berlin-based travel startup that operates a platform for comparing and booking train, bus and flight connections. Founded in 2013, the company has raised several hundred million dollars in venture capital and is active across multiple European markets.

Startup Talent Impact Report

Where Startup Talent Flows

Tracking how employees move across companies, industries and new ventures

The Startup Talent Impact Report by Berlin-based data-driven marketing agency ABCD looks at what happens to employees after they leave high-growth startups.

Using publicly available data, the report shows where alumni go next, including the companies, industries and locations they move into. It further tracks how many alumni become founders, indicating their contribution to innovation, and outlines their skills, educational backgrounds and career paths.

The aim is to provide a clear, data-based view of how startup talent develops and where it moves over time within the German and European economy.

FIRST ROUND: OMIO

878

Ex-Omio analysed

686

Destination companies

5.7%

At DAX Companies

Founders

Zalando

Most common destination

Where Startup Talent Goes

Career paths, industries, and outcomes of startup alumni

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01Where Startup Talent Goes

Alumni Distribution Across Top Employers

Zalando stands out as the leading destination for Omio alumni, attracting the largest share of former employees. Overall, alumni are distributed across a broad range of companies, with no single employer accounting for more than 3.3% (29 employees). Alongside Zalando, several major tech platforms — including Delivery Hero and Amazon — consistently attract talent. Red bars denote DAX 40 companies, orange marks Nasdaq-100 members.

Alumni Presence in Germany's Largest Listed Companies

A total of 5.7% of alumni (50 employees) work at DAX 40 companies — Germany's largest listed corporations. While this reflects a measurable transfer of startup experience into established firms, the vast majority of talent remains outside traditional corporate structures and is instead absorbed by the broader digital economy.

Alumni Across DAX 40 Companies

Fourteen DAX 40 companies employ Omio alumni, but distribution within the index is highly uneven. Zalando clearly leads, with a share comparable to all other DAX companies combined. SAP and Deutsche Bank follow at significantly lower levels, while most companies show only small individual concentrations — indicating a selective transfer of startup talent into large corporates.

Alumni Distribution by Country

Germany remains the primary destination for Omio alumni, accounting for around 65% of employees. At the same time, talent is distributed across a range of international markets, with the United Kingdom, the United States and Central and Eastern Europe emerging as secondary hubs. This points to a strong local concentration combined with selective international spillover.

Alumni Distribution by City

Berlin is the primary hub for Omio alumni, with around two-thirds remaining in the city. At the same time, a number of secondary hubs — particularly London and Prague — have emerged, alongside a broader international spread. This indicates that while talent remains strongly anchored in Berlin, it also extends into other European and global tech centres.

Alumni Distribution by Industry

Technology is the largest single destination for Omio alumni, accounting for over a quarter of employees. Beyond this, talent is distributed across a range of digitally driven sectors, including e-commerce, fintech and consulting. Only a smaller share remains in travel, while traditional industries such as energy play a limited role, pointing to a broad redistribution of talent across the digital economy.

Alumni Distribution by Seniority

Mid-level roles form the largest group among Omio alumni, accounting for around one third of employees. At the same time, a majority of 57% hold leadership positions at manager level or above, indicating that a significant share of talent moves into roles with managerial responsibility.

Seniority Distribution Across Company Sizes

Senior and managerial alumni are heavily concentrated in large enterprises, pointing to a structural pull of corporates on experienced startup talent. While mid-level roles remain spread across company sizes, leadership talent increasingly moves into larger organisations — suggesting that the most experienced profiles are being absorbed by established firms.

Alumni Distribution by Company Size

Large enterprises account for the largest share of Omio alumni (41%), making them the primary destination for startup talent. While employees are still distributed across startups, SMEs and mid-sized companies, the overall pattern suggests a structural shift towards larger organisations as the main absorption layer of experienced talent.

Alumni Distribution by Employment Type

Full-time employment is the dominant model among Omio alumni, accounting for 68% of all roles. Independent work — including self-employment and freelancing — represents a smaller share, indicating that most talent transitions into structured employment rather than flexible or entrepreneurial work models.

Entrepreneurial Outcomes

Founding activity, industries, funding models and company growth

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02Entrepreneurial Outcomes

Alumni Founding Activity

A total of 37 alumni (4.2%) have gone on to found or co-found a company after Omio. The nearly even split between founders and co-founders suggests a collaborative approach to entrepreneurship, while the overall share indicates a consistent — though selective — contribution to new business creation.

Industries of Alumni-Founded Companies

Founding activity among Omio alumni is heavily concentrated in technology and adjacent digital sectors. Rather than returning to travel, most founders apply their experience to new, digitally driven business models — extending the impact of startup talent beyond its original industry.

Funding Models of Alumni-Founded Companies

Bootstrapped ventures account for the largest share among alumni-founded companies, while VC-backed firms remain a minority. The distribution likely reflects a combination of early-stage development and selective access to external funding.

Team Size of Alumni-Founded Companies

The majority of alumni-founded companies are small teams with 2–10 employees, indicating a strong concentration in early-stage ventures. At the same time, a notable share has grown to 11–50 employees, pointing to the emergence of companies beyond the initial founding phase.

Talent Profile

Skills, education and academic background of alumni

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03Talent Profile

Academic Background of Alumni

The majority of Omio alumni hold university degrees, with master's and bachelor's degrees accounting for around two thirds of all profiles. Higher academic specialisation, such as PhDs, remains relatively rare, pointing to a broadly educated but not highly specialised talent base.

Fields of Study Among Alumni

Omio alumni combine technical and commercial academic backgrounds, with IT & Computer Science and Business & Economics forming the core. At the same time, a broader mix of disciplines — from humanities to engineering — highlights a diverse talent base that extends beyond purely technical specialisation.

Key Skills of Alumni

The skill profile of Omio alumni combines a strong technical foundation with operational and business-oriented capabilities. Core programming and data skills such as Java, SQL and JavaScript are complemented by project management, leadership and marketing competencies, indicating a multi-layered skill set that spans technical execution and business application.

Methodology

How the dataset was assembled, processed and classified

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04Methodology

Data collection

The analysis is based on publicly available LinkedIn profile data. Alumni data was collected through automated scraping in April 2026, resulting in a dataset of 835 individuals who previously worked at Omio.

Sample definition

Alumni are defined as all individuals who have worked at Omio at any point in time, regardless of role or duration. The dataset includes full-time and part-time employees as well as interns, but excludes freelancers. Duplicate profiles were removed during data cleaning. All analyses are based on this final sample.

Data processing and standardisation

The raw data was manually cleaned and standardised to ensure consistency across profiles. This included harmonising job titles, employment types and educational information. Missing or incomplete entries were retained and reflected in “unknown” categories where applicable.

Classification and grouping

To enable analysis, several variables were grouped into structured categories:

Seniority levels were manually mapped based on job titles (e.g. “Manager”, “Director”, “VP”).
Industry classification was grouped into higher-level sectors using AI-assisted categorisation.
Company size is based on LinkedIn employee bands and grouped into four categories (Startup, SME, Mid-Market, Large Enterprise).
Skills were extracted from LinkedIn profiles and reduced to the top 30 most frequently listed skills, then manually grouped into categories such as hard skills, soft skills and tools.
Education data (degrees) was standardised (e.g. BA, MA, PhD), while fields of study were grouped into broader subject areas using AI-assisted classification.

Founder and funding data

Alumni who became founders or co-founders were identified based on job titles and manually validated.

Information on funding status was compiled from publicly available sources, including Crunchbase, company websites and press coverage. Companies were classified into categories such as bootstrapped, investor-backed or VC-funded based on available information.

Analytical scope

The report analyses career paths, employer types, geographic distribution, skill profiles and entrepreneurial activity of alumni, based on their current roles and publicly available background information.

Limitations

The analysis is subject to several limitations. LinkedIn data is self-reported and may be incomplete or outdated. Not all former employees maintain active or detailed profiles, which may introduce sampling bias. In addition, classifications (e.g. seniority levels or industries) are based on standardised interpretations of profile data and may not fully capture individual career nuances. Funding and founder data is based on publicly available sources and should be interpreted as indicative rather than exhaustive.

Independence and non-affiliation

This report was produced independently by ABCD Agency and is not commissioned, sponsored, endorsed, reviewed, or approved by Omio. Omio was not involved in the design of the study, the data collection, the analysis, the interpretation of results, or the preparation of this publication. Any references to “Omio” are used solely to identify the former employer of the individuals included in the alumni sample.

The information presented should be interpreted as descriptive and indicative. It does not represent Omio’s internal records, and it has not been verified by Omio. The report does not make claims about Omio’s performance, business outlook, or current workforce composition.

All company and product names, logos, and trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.