The Startup Ecosystem of Austria

Austria’s startup economy is focused on the fields of information technology, media, and life science, as well as creative industries. The country has the potential to become a powerful European startup hub. Austria offers entrepreneurs an investment friendly tax system and a support network for acquiring funding. For instance, the Ministry of economics has been working to simplify the process of starting a new business by putting forward the New Companies Promotion Act (NeuFöG). In addition, organizations such as ABA-Invest in Austria are doing a great job of promoting the nation as an ideal location for early stage funding and government support.
Austria has a vast supporting network of early-stage investors, incubators, accelerators, angels, and VCs based in Austrian StartUps, the Austrian Angel Investors Association, and the Austrian Venture Capital and Private Equity Organisation. One of Europe’s most active VCs, Speedinvest, is headquartered in the Austrian capital. The most important funding sources in Austria are the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS). They offer non-repayable grants, guarantees, and subsidized loans.
With such strong support for startups, it is no wonder that Austrian unicorns, GoStudent and Bitpanda, have attracted international attention, putting Austria on the map for international investors. These recent public sector activities are welcome, especially those focused on the promotion and branding of the Austrian startup ecosystem. The previous approach of relying on Austria’s R&D capabilities has lacked effective marketing, resulting in missed opportunities and substantial losses, such as the inability to continue the iconic Pioneers startup event in Vienna after 2019. The emergence of the high profile ViennaUp event is a step in the right direction to attract talent and brand the global value of Austria’s startup ecosystem. Since 2019, the Austrian Startup Agency has been following the progress of the 37 recommendations it made for the government to help the startup ecosystem realize its full potential.
Austria enjoys a central location in the heart of Europe where it can act as a bridge between numerous markets to the West (including Germany and Switzerland, which share the same language) and the East (including Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia, all an hour away). Foreign talent is therefore within reach. Moreover, the country offers the Austria Golden Visa Program under which immigration through investment is possible. In the future, we hope to see Austria capitalize more on such strategic advantages.