The Austrian Startup Monitor deals with the empirical assessment of the Austrian ecosystem. Thus, Austrian start-ups are surveyed annually on various areas of relevance to them and their development is observed.
Austrian Startup Monitor:
Comparison of the years 2018 and 2019
The Austrian Startup Monitor collects information on Austrian start-ups through surveys, analyses and evaluates the collected data. This article will summarize the results of the past two years and point out trends, as well as highlight the contributions of I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser to the Austrian ecosystem.
Start-ups in Austria
In 2018 there were 1,534 start-ups in Austria, slightly more than half of them (773) are based in Vienna. Styria is in second place with 187 start-ups. It is followed by Upper Austria (183), Lower Austria (106), Carinthia (92), Tyrol (78) and Salzburg (62). Vorarlberg and Burgenland are at the bottom with 24 and 16 start-ups respectively.
In 2019, the number of start-ups rose to a total of 2,280. With 1,125 companies, Vienna is again the leader this year. Styria was displaced from second place with 267 start-ups and now ranks behind Upper Austria (286). Tyrol’s entrepreneurial scene also grew last year and almost doubled the number of start-ups (171).
Together with the actors of the Tyrolean start-up scene, the I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser has been working for the local entrepreneurship scene. In the context of startup.tirol a development roadmap for local start-ups is offered, here the I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser is partner of the Growth Camp – the program for companies in the growth phase.
Tyrol thus overtook the provinces of Lower Austria (170) and Carinthia (112). In Salzburg (85) and Vorarlberg (38), 23 and 12 new companies respectively were added and Burgenland (30) even doubled its number.
Phases
In another survey from 2018 it was found that about 44% of the participating companies are in the start-up phase. Closely followed by the growth phase (34%). The seed phase takes third place with 14.2%.
In 2019, the percentage falls to 41.4% in the start-up phase and to 32% in the growth phase. 20.9% of start-ups are in the pre-seed or seed phase.
2018
2019
Industries
22 industries were identified for evaluation, which will now be presented here:
| Industry | 2018 | 2019 |
| Software (IT/ Software development) | 34.9% | 31.2% |
| Life Science (biotechnology, healthcare, medical technology and pharmaceuticals) | 10.2% | 9.2% |
| Hardware (Industrial Technology/ Production and Electronics/ Electrical Engineering) | 9.6% | 9.2% |
Teams
The Austrian Startup Monitor asked the participating start-ups about the composition of their teams. The majority of the start-ups in Austria 2018 consisted of two people with 39.1%. 20.7% of them are teams with three people, closely followed by individual founders (19.3%). Start-up teams of four or five people are rarer with 13.5% and 7.4%. Another interesting aspect of the studies is the survey of the genders and the composition of the teams. More than half (56.3%) of the start-ups surveyed consist of a male team. 23% of the start-ups were founded by at least one woman and one man. Around 15% are male individual founders. Female individual founders account for only 3.7% of the start-up scene. The last place (2.6%) is occupied by purely female teams.
Last year, the breakdown was similar. Founder teams were the most frequent constellation (37.1%). 25% of start-ups were founded by three people. Four and more founders are in the penultimate place with 19%, closely followed by individual founders with 18.9%.
The gender constellation has also been taken into account here. Men are more strongly represented among individual founders with 13.9% than women, who account for only 5%. 22.9% of start-ups were founded by male teams last year, while mixed teams consist of 11.2% and purely female teams of 3%. Male start-up teams with more than three people make up the largest share with 29.1%. 13.3% of the start-ups were founded by mixed teams. All-female teams with more than three members come in last with 1%.
Women as founders
The I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser spoke to the founder Samira Hayat on the occasion of International Women’s Day, about her business and her passion for her research area. Click here for the interview.
Challenges
The Austrian Startup Monitor also asked about the challenges of internationalisation. The greatest difficulties are caused by financial resources and finding networks and partners. The difficulty of protecting intellectual property was also mentioned.
within the EU
outside the EU
The Austrian ecosystem has developed strongly in recent years. I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser also meets the challenges already raised in the Monitor in its daily activities with the actors of the entrepreneurship scene. With its initiatives in the field of science-based entrepreneurship, I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser is actively working on solving these challenges together, with a special focus on the topics of financing start-ups and know-how building in spin-off strategies.
Contribution from I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser
The I.E.C.T. – Hermann Hauser can act as a strong partner for the start-ups in all these challenges. The I.E.C.T. – Network is a personal connection to highly relevant actors of the global I.E.C.T. ecosystem. The international players from the economy, the investment sector, deep-tech research as well as the legal profession support the start-ups and provide help and input for the best possible development of the company.
The I.E.C.T. – Network not only connects the start-ups with mentors, investors and corporates, but also provides a realistic assessment of the own company. The presentation as a Pathgraph shows not only the current situation of the company, but also realistic goals that can be achieved with the help of I.E.C.T. programmes such as the I.E.C.T. – Summer School on Entrepreneurship for start-ups in the early stages or the LBG Innovator’s Road for companies at a higher level.
The Austrian Startup Monitor is also online:
Homepage Austrian Startup Monitor
Austrian Startup Monitor 2018
Austrian Startup Monitor 2019 (German)