Just Move to Munich

Munich, Germany — your playbook for visa, housing, community, and building from here.

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Showing tips specific to Munich alongside general European resources.

Every link is here because someone building from Munich would actually use it. Some resources show up on more than one city page because they carry across contexts. Nothing is here just to look complete.

If you do nothing else

Sort your visa

Same German visa framework as Berlin; Ausländerbehörde wait times can be long

Find your first home

Budget €650–€1,100/mo typical range (WG room) for a room or coliving.

Required in most EU countries within 2 weeks of arrival.

Plug into the community

Luma, Meetup, or local Slack/Telegram — just show up.

Start building

Ship something in your first week. Momentum attracts the right people.

Your First 30 Days in Munich

Week-by-week playbook with € tips, local registration, and banking.

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Visa & Immigration

Hit the official overview first, then dig into the common paths below.

Start here

Official overview or main portal for visas and residence.

Join a company

Work visas and EU Blue Card for employed roles.

Start a company

Visas for founders and self-employed.

Freelance / self-employed

Residence permits for freelancers and self-employed.

Explore & search

Job-seeker permits, graduate routes, Global Talent, and other exploratory visas.

Hire across borders (EOR platforms)

If an employer doesn't have an entity in your country, these platforms can hire you compliantly on their behalf. Useful to suggest to companies as an operational path.

Housing, Coliving & Workspaces

Munich is Germany's most expensive city for housing. Schwabing and Maxvorstadt anchor the tech scene. Most founders budget €650–€1,100/mo for a WG room; what you pay depends on neighborhood and luck. The cost calculator uses one mid-range figure for its WG tier, not the floor. Studios and 1-beds cost more.

•ImmobilienScout24 and WG-Gesucht are your best bet

•Schwabing and Maxvorstadt are the tech neighborhoods

•Munich has stricter rental requirements than Berlin

•Consider nearby towns with S-Bahn connections for cheaper rent

Company Setup & Legal

German GmbH or UG — same framework as Berlin. IHK Munich and BayStartUP guide formation. UnternehmerTUM offers legal workshops. YPOG covers Berlin, Munich, and London. EU Inc (proposal, not yet in force) will let you register a single EU-wide entity in 48 hours with no minimum capital. Ledgy for cap table.

Planning to raise VC or exit? Set up a personal Holding UG before incorporating your operative GmbH. With a holding structure, 95% of dividends and capital gains are tax-exempt (§8b KStG): ~1.5% effective tax vs ~26% as a private individual. A UG costs as little as €1 to incorporate. This is standard for German startups, but easy to miss as a first-time founder. Talk to a Steuerberater early.

Startup Perks

Free credits and discounts from cloud providers, AI platforms, dev tools, and more. Perks apply regardless of where you're based. Start with the directories below.

Communities

Munich's startup community is more corporate-adjacent than Berlin's but growing fast. Oktoberfest aside, the tech meetup scene is very active.

•Bits & Pretzels is Munich's flagship startup conference

•Munich Startup newsletter covers the local scene well

Events & Meetups

Regular meetups, AI events, and local tech gatherings.

Hackathons

Munich's hackathon scene is anchored by hackaTUM — one of Europe's largest — and a growing AI/automotive tech event calendar.

•hackaTUM is TU Munich's flagship hackathon — 1,000+ participants

•European Builders League hosts Munich editions for curated builders

•BMW and Siemens sponsor corporate hackathons with real problems

Conferences

Europe's flagship tech conferences: great for fundraising, recruiting, and visibility. Most are worth traveling to from any city — so we list them Europe-wide.

Vibe Coding

Guide

Start with Vibe Coding

AI tools to go from idea to product in hours. No engineering team required.

Read guide →

Accelerators & Programs

Munich's accelerator scene is enterprise and deep tech focused. UnternehmerTUM is Europe's largest entrepreneurship center, based at TU Munich.

•UnternehmerTUM — Europe's biggest entrepreneurship center

•TechFounders — accelerator connecting startups with corporates like BMW

•Wayra Germany — Telefónica's accelerator with Munich presence

Jobs & Talent

Munich's job market is strong in enterprise tech, automotive, and AI. TU Munich is Europe's best talent pipeline for deep tech. Salaries are Germany's highest.

•Munich has Germany's highest tech salaries — senior engineers earn €70K–€100K

•BMW, Siemens, and Allianz all have internal startup programs

•TU Munich's career fairs are excellent for startup hiring

•BayStartUP connects startups with talent through events

Fundraising & First Checks

Munich has strong corporate VC and traditional VC presence. The B2B/enterprise focus attracts strategic investors. BayStartUP connects startups with Bavarian programs.

•Bavaria has strong state-backed funding programs (BayStartUP)

•Dealroom lists DACH investors and funding rounds

•INVEST grant subsidizes angel investments in startups (check BAFA for current rates)

Find investors & market data

Databases and directories to discover angels and VCs, plus funding data and ecosystem reports.

Pitch resources & guides

Templates, playbooks, and real pitch deck examples.

Tax incentives for investors

Programs that make angel investing more attractive to backers.

Grants & Non-Dilutive Funding

Government grants, EU programs, and non-dilutive funding sources across Europe.

EU grants apply to EU cities. London and Zurich have separate national programs.

Transit & Travel

Munich's MVV system (U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams, buses) is punctual and comprehensive. The Deutschlandticket covers everything.

•Deutschlandticket covers all local and regional transit across Germany

•U-Bahn and S-Bahn are fast and reliable — rarely delayed

•Munich is very bikeable with good cycling infrastructure

•S-Bahn connects to Munich Airport in ~40 minutes

Food & Delivery

Munich blends traditional Bavarian cuisine with an increasingly international food scene. Beer gardens are social institutions, not tourist traps.

•Beer gardens are essential — Augustiner Keller and Hirschgarten are favorites

•Viktualienmarkt is a daily food market in the city center with great stalls

•Schwabinger neighborhoods have diverse international restaurants

•Budget €10–18/meal eating out; Weißwurst breakfast is a Munich tradition

Cafes & Coworking

Munich's cafe scene is growing beyond traditional Bavarian coffee houses. Schwabing and Maxvorstadt have the best spots for laptop workers.

•Man vs. Machine and Vits are top specialty coffee spots

•Schwabing has the densest cluster of work-friendly cafes near TU Munich

•WERK1 and UnternehmerTUM have co-working with coffee

•Traditional cafes (Café Luitpold, etc.) are beautiful but not always laptop-friendly

Culture & Lifestyle

World-class museums, opera, and the Bavarian Alps within an hour. Munich's cultural identity is uniquely German — Oktoberfest, Christmas markets, and beer hall culture.

•Deutsches Museum is the world's largest science and technology museum

•Pinakothek museums (Alte, Neue, der Moderne) are exceptional

•Day trips to Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps are easy by train

•Oktoberfest (Sept–Oct) is the world's largest folk festival — book accommodation months ahead