Under the lead of the AIT Austrian Institutes of Technology together with Austrian Startups and the WU Gründungszentrum, the fifth edition of the report on the development, dynamics and challenges of the Austrian startup scene is published this year. This year's monitor also focused on the topics of migration, internationalisation and employment. Today, the Austrian Startup Monitor 2022 was presented together with Federal Minister Martin Kocher.
Startups as an economic engine
"In our survey, we see that around 360 startups are founded in Austria every year. That is a company almost every day that contributes to more innovation and growth in Austria. More than 25,000 people are currently working in startups and an additional 40% increase in the number of employees is planned," says study director Karl-Heinz Leitner from AIT. Start-ups are not only an economic engine, but also play an important role in the transformation of the economy through innovative, technological advances. Every second start-up in Austria pursues overriding ecological and/or social business goals and generates added value for the climate, the environment and/or society. With around 90 academic spin-offs per year, researched knowledge is actively applied and thus supports successful future shaping.
The 3 biggest challenges for start-ups in Austria
Looking back at the past years, start-ups proved to be driving forces in times of crisis, overcoming challenges innovatively, identifying new opportunities and creating new jobs in the process. Despite all the resilience, the tense situation on the labour market and the difficult economic environment due to the pandemic and the war are causing problems for the young companies. "However, the top 3 challenges have not changed since 2018. Startups are still demanding a reduction in non-wage labour costs, incentive systems for private venture capital financing and better opportunities for employee participation in the company's success." - Hannah Wundsam, Managing Director of AustrianStartups.
A quarter of founders have a migration background
In the latest edition of the Monitor, the question of diversity in the scene was also investigated by taking a closer look at the topic of migration for the first time. A quarter of the founders in Austria have a migration background, which means that they themselves and/or both parents were born outside of Austria. In order to reduce any barriers and better tap the potential of entrepreneurs with a migration background, specific challenges of this group were identified. The survey identified a lack of networks, language barriers, cultural differences and bureaucratic hurdles as particular difficulties. "The results show for the first time: Migrant entrepreneurs are not only strongly represented among the self-employed in Austria, but also as founders of the most innovative start-ups in the country. Every fourth start-up was founded by people with a migration background. Start-up founders with a migration background have a better education and a stronger exit orientation than entrepreneurs from Austria and are more often multiple founders ("serial entrepreneurs"). - Peter Vandor, Head of the Social Entrepreneurship Center at WU Vienna.
Presentation on 28 March with Federal Minister Kocher
The ASM 2022 was presented today by the authors of the study together with Minister of Economics Martin Kocher and other partners at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy. Afterwards, the results of the Monitor will be discussed and relevant topics such as the crisis, migration, female start-ups, internationalisation and spin-offs will be examined in more detail.