Forward thinking Berlin is ready to hoover up London's tech scene if Brexit happens | Sean Gallup/Getty Images Berlin ready to lure tech firms after Brexit London’s status as the place to be for tech firms could be in jeopardy if the UK votes to leave the EU.

BERLIN — As Britain ponders life outside the European Union, one city is poised to capitalize in the event of a Brexit: Berlin.

London has established itself as the tech capital of Europe, with technology contributing around £180 billion a year to the British economy, according to the Boston Consulting Group. Firms see the British capital as the gateway to Europe and the U.S. as well as being drawn by the ease of doing business, the language and access to global financial markets.

But tech start-ups are worried about the disruption that would be caused by a Brexit vote when Brits go to the ballot box on June 23.

What could be bad news for Britain is an opportunity for Germany, which has seen its share of the tech market growing fast and is hungry for more. In 2015, Gründen, which advises fledgling firms, said a new start-up was founded in Berlin every 20 minutes.

Oliver Samwer, the founder of Berlin-based Rocket Internet, sees London's status as Europe's leading tech hub ending and shifting elsewhere — perhaps to Berlin — if there is a vote to leave the bloc.

Brexit would be "a disadvantage for a U.K. based company," said Samwer, who wants his company to be a European version of Facebook or Google. "I would like the U.K. to stay within the European Union, obviously for all start-ups that’s a much easier way to send people there, you can recruit people there, all the advantages of a free market in Europe.”

The amount of tech cash flowing in the U.K. rose by a third year-on-year in the first quarter of 2016, but was down by more than a fifth compared with the last three months of 2015, according to a report by Tech EU. Tech deals in Germany, meanwhile, have gained pace, increasing by 59 percent in the past year and growing 16 percent in the past three months.

Berlin's start-ups attracted more venture capital than those in London in the past two years — with €2.1 billion heading to Germany and €1.7 billion to the U.K., according to Ernst and Young. Berlin is getting more start-ups because of tax incentives and grants for business angels, public funding for firms that have difficulty attracting venture capital and a simple immigration process for foreign workers.

Growing ecosystem

Fledging businesses are boosted by accelerator programs that are sponsored by household names like Deutsche Telekom, Lufthansa, Coca-Cola and Microsoft. There's also the cost: London has some of the most expensive real estate in the world which makes rival European cities more comfortable to live in.

'It will help Germany to gain a clear leadership in digital disruption' — Tomasz Czechowicz, MCI Capital

Leaving the EU would dent the British economy by £50 billion, around 3.1 percent of gross domestic product, because of changes to regulation and trade barriers, according to the London School of Economics and Political Science. That figure doesn't take into account the uncertainty for the U.K.'s non-British population, the likely depreciation of sterling and monetary flight from British shores.

"It would definitely create an advantage for Berlin as the headquarters of European innovation and digital disruption," said Tomasz Czechowicz, a managing partner at venture capital firm MCI Capital. "Berlin lacks the funds and infrastructure of London. It won’t happen the next day but it's a process. It will help Germany to gain a clear leadership in digital disruption."

Ömer Akkentli, founding partner of peer-to-peer ride-sharing app Lojika, sees London as a key market for his business but is delaying a move into Britain until after the Brexit vote.

"Brexit may impact investment in Europe. We are supported by the European Horizon 2020 program [an EU research and innovation scheme] and they actually favor companies who launch in the EU. If Britain exits, that may impact funding," said Akkentli.

The Horizon 2020 program provided more than €350 million this year to help fund start-ups across the EU in the hope of uncovering a European tech giant to rival Facebook, Google or Uber. The maximum an entrepreneur can receive is €2.5 million.

"Berlin becomes more attractive [after Brexit], the ecosystem is growing here, all the investors are here and London investors travel once a week to meet start-ups, you have a lot of talent here," said Jeremias Meier of fin-tech start-up Bexio. "With Brexit, it could accelerate."