Mobile bank N26 has been named Germany's best start-up to work for by LinkedIn this year.
The company, which recently expanded into the U.S., offers its workers a comprehensive package of employee perks, ranging from personal development funds to networking events, and wants new recruits to be searching for a career path rather than "just a job."
To be eligible for LinkedIn's ranking, companies had to be privately held, have at least 50 employees, be no more than seven years old and be headquartered in Germany.
Start-ups were analyzed based on employment growth, non-employee engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. LinkedIn compiled its list by measuring those four pillars between July 2018 and June 2019.
CNBC took a look at the start-ups attracting top talent in Germany and what they look for in their recruitment process.
10. Grover Group
Headcount in Germany: 80
Headquarters: Berlin
More than 275,000 people use Grover to rent electronics from games consoles to smartphones, with the company saying it wants to make technology accessible to everyone. To be considered for a job at Grover, candidates must embrace the unknown, be open-minded and want to have fun while solving real problems.
9. HeyJobs
Headcount in Germany: 100
Headquarters: Berlin
HeyJobs helps employers recruit at scale by identifying candidates across more than 1,000 pages, using artificial intelligence to match potential employees to open jobs. The company has more than 600 clients including Deutsche Bahn, UPS, PayPal, and Vodafone.
8. MEDWING
Headcount in Germany: 140
Headquarters: Berlin
Also disrupting the recruitment sector, Medwing was created to help solve the global healthcare staffing shortage. The start-up, which provides permanent and temporary employees for all fields of the healthcare industry, is looking for "talented, passionate people" to join its team.
7. Contentful
Headcount in Germany: 180
Headquarters: Berlin
Contentful provides companies with online content infrastructure designed to eliminate the need for traditional content management systems, with clients including Wework, Heineken and Spotify. The start-up has offices in Berlin and San Francisco, which it describes as friendly spaces that foster collaboration, hang-outs and play.
Headcount in Germany: 105
Headquarters: Berlin
In 2016, Kolibri Games' founders worked out of a student apartment — fast forward three years, and the firm has become one of Germany's largest game developers, with mobile game "Idle Miner Tycoon" being downloaded more than 50 million times. The company says it offers exciting jobs in which new recruits can take on real responsibility and develop their careers.
5. Personio
Headcount in Germany: 240
Headquarters: Munich
Software start-up Personio helps companies with HR management, and since launching in 2015 has expanded to a workforce of 250 people across 34 countries. To date, the firm has raised 50 million euros from investors. As an employer, Personio says it values knowledge and reasoning over seniority, and has "a good sense of humor that keeps us going during tough times."
4. unu
Headcount in Germany: 130
Headquarters: Berlin
Electric scooter manufacturer Unu is rolling out an upgraded version of its scooter in 2020, which will carry two people and come with a digital key. The company's workers champion its values across the organization, including creativity, authenticity and diversity.
Headcount in Germany: 220
Headquarters: Berlin
Tier allows its app users to hire the company's electric scooters in various cities, including Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Paris and Helsinki. The start-up says its employees learn in one year what they'd learn in five anywhere else, dubbing its workforce and "international team of serial entrepreneurs."
2. Lilium
Headcount in Germany: 300
Headquarters: Munich
Lilum is developing an on-demand air taxi service that can carry up to five people, with a view to launch in 2025. The start-up, which has attracted more than $100 million in funding, says it's committed to delivering a meaningful impact, whether that's through reducing the company's carbon footprint, driving economic growth or connecting communities.
1. N26
Headcount in Germany: 1,100
Headquarters: Berlin
Fintech (financial technology) firm N26 announced last month that it had raised $470 million in a funding round, valuing the start-up at $3.5 billion and making it one of the most valuable fintechs in the world. The mobile bank expanded to the U.S. market in July, and now employs more than 1,300 employees in Berlin, New York Barcelona, Vienna and Sao Paulo.
N26 offers its employees a range of perks to entice the world's top talent into its workforce. Workers are offered two days a month to focus on personal projects or day-to-day tasks, and the company hosts networking events with other start-ups. Employees are also given a "personal development fund" to invest in their future as they see fit, as well as the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world while they travel. For those moving to Berlin to take a job with N26, the start-up offers a relocation package that includes an offer of heavily discounted German classes.