The Startup Ecosystem of Austria

Austria has 7 cities in the top 1000 and has a vibrant startup scene that ranks 25th within the competitive global top 30.

COUNTRY RANKING

Since 2023, Austria lost 2 spots in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index, having now positioned itself as 25th worldwide.

Population

9
Million

Regional Ranking

13th
-
1
In Western Europe

Global Ranking

25th
-
2
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

white palace during daytime
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.

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ECOSYSTEM

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in Austria

Our startup ecosystem map for Austria includes a sample of 360 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 2 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations.

Global Rank

Austria is ranked within the top 30 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

Austria’s startup scene is best represented in Education, Energy & Environment, and in and Fintech.

Top Cities for Startups in Austria - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2023 National Rank & Change ▲
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
2023 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal ScoreQuantity ScoreQuality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
70th
+
1
8.802
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
256th
-
5
1.849
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
0
285th
+
35
1.504
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
0
466th
+
25
0.576
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
+
2
696th
+
120
0.259
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
-
1
749th
-
24
0.226
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
-
1
826th
-
34
0.186
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in Austria
TourRadar startup icon
TourRadar
Tractive startup icon
Tractive
Adverity startup icon
Adverity

Startups

Successful Education startups in Austria
whatchado startup icon
whatchado
OKTAV startup icon
OKTAV
Leaders21com startup icon
Leaders21com

Startups

Startups Ranking by Industry

Education icon
Education
#7 worldwide

On our map, you can explore a total of 157 startups for Education.

Energy & Environment icon
Energy & Environment
#15 worldwide

In Western Europe, Austria's Energy & Environment is in top 15. Austria has a concentration of about 37 of the region's total Energy & Environment startups that are represented on our map.

Fintech icon
Fintech
#22 worldwide

Austria's Fintech is ranked 22nd in the world. Our database contains 30 for this industry.

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