53 percent more financing rounds and 63 percent more money raised send a strong signal to the Austrian startup scene.
The startup scene in Austria continues its financing boom
This becomes clear from the Startup Report Austria 2018, which is published annually by GetFunding.how and analyzes the Austrian funding activities in a detailed annual comparison. In the past year, a total of 101 rounds of financing totaling at least € 250,000 took place, representing an increase of 53 percent compared to 2017. At 238 million euros, a whopping 63 percent more capital was collected than in the previous year. The eleven largest rounds of financing brought in about 145 million euros – that is more than all 63 companies listed in Startup Report Austria 2017, which had collected 133 million euros.
“The interest in participation and venture capital financing continues to increase, both among investors and founders,” states Birgit Reiter-Braunwieser, director of startups at the business settlement company Austrian Business Agency (ABA). “That’s a strong signal for the startup scene in Austria”.
Investments in the Vienna travel startup Tourradar amounting to 42.5 million euros in particular contributed to this increase. The second largest round of financing was achieved by the Carinthian video streaming startup Bitmovin with 24.4 million euros. But also the number of deals in the size of one to two million euros has risen. These are known to be particularly difficult, as they are often too big for business angels, but often too small for venture capital firms.
Radiance of a state that wants to subsidize
“Obviously, the targeted measures with which the German government supports the local community are striking,” says Reiter Braunwieser. “It was not until January 2019 that the Federal Minister for Digitalisation and Business Location Margarete Schramböck announced an additional startup package with tax incentives for investors and the acceleration of bureaucratic processes. As a result, both the number of foreign and domestic donors will increase significantly”.
The fact that the scene is maturing is generally due to the pronounced development and investment landscape. The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (AWS) offer valuable support through specialized programs and start-up funds. The 14 percent research premium also makes the location of Austria attractive to founders and investors.
Also published on Medium.