Berlin has no money, investors don't come here. More than a couple of investors I jumped through hoops for eventually I made it all the way to the top decision maker who was forced to reveal "oh we don't have any money but in exchange for some equity we can hook you up with business connections." No small amount of equity. Double digits every time. And the same is true if you find an incubator willing to take you, expect very little money, a short tenure, and a double digit equity stake. This all is in line with the level of talent which exists here. If you take a look at the Berlin job market it's all about legacy systems, some PHP, maybe Java if you're lucky.
There's no help available from the government. In fact if you own a startup your taxes skyrocket. Your health insurance doubles. If you're trying to sort out a visa at the same time as all that, good luck! The government will subsidise a loan for you, but it has to be a personal loan. Which means banks are willing to give out risky loans. It's the same thing that happened in the housing crash. Which is why it needs to be a personal loan, your company failing means nothing you have to pay it back.
Letters arrive in your mailbox claiming you owe them money, which apparently isn't illegal. All scams. People you meet at networking events promise to hook you up with business connections for equity or money.
This is a market that sells shovels.
You want to buy a shovel and start digging there's a hundred people around selling them. But you better hope that shovel doesn't require Wifi because bars and cafes are held responsible for torrent traffic, which means none of them offer it. Therefore rent a co-working space [shovel] or an office [shovel].