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Top 3 Venture Capital Firms in Austria

Influential venture capital firms are largely responsible for the innovation booming in Austria’s tech scene. In this post, we highlight the ‘Top 3 Venture Capital Firms in Austria’ that are not only investing in potential but are also instrumental in shaping the future of Austrian startups. These firms stand as pillars of support and growth for the burgeoning tech community in Austria.

We took into account the number of deals per year to create this list.

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Speedinvest

Speedinvest is a venture capital firm focusing on early-stage European tech startups. They have a team-oriented approach with sector-focused teams in areas such as Deep Tech, Fintech, Health & TechBio, Climate Tech & Industrial Tech, Marketplaces & Consumer, and SaaS & Infrastructure. They support the growth of startups from seed to Series A and beyond, offering hands-on support and access to a network of experienced founders and experts.

Sector focus: Software, Fintech, Financial services, IT, SaaS, AI

Round: Early Stage Venture, Seed, Venture

Total investments: 457

Founding Year: 2011

Notable Investments: Kema, Vitt, HomeCooks, Rho Protocol, Refurbed

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Calm/Storm Ventures

Calm/Storm Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in purpose-driven founders focusing on life, health, and wellbeing. They have a particular interest in digital health and wellbeing, often in projects addressing sensitive topics like (in)fertility and mental health. As a super early-stage investor, they value diversity, with a significant portion of their portfolio companies having diverse teams. They are notably active in the healthtech sector in Europe.

Sector focus: Health Care, Wellness, Medical, Software, AI

Round: Convertible Note, Early Stage Venture, Seed, Venture

Total investments: 67

Founding Year: 2020

Notable Investments: ThinkSono, Lindus Health, doctorly, inne, Kiko Homes

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Aws Gründungsfonds(Austria Wirtschaftsservice Founders Fund)

The aws Gründerfonds, or Austria Wirtschaftsservice Founders Fund, is a venture capital firm that supports start-ups with high growth potential and scalable business models. They focus on early growth companies scaling technology with R&D in Austria and have global ambitions. The firm is currently actively investing through its aws Gründerfonds II, a fund exceeding 70 million EUR. They are interested in innovative ideas and are ready to support start-ups ready to pitch their business ideas.

Sector focus: SaaS, Software, IT, Health Care, Medical

Round: Early Stage Venture, Late Stage Venture, Seed

Total investments: 73

Founding Year: 2013

Notable Investments: HeartBeat.bio, Rendity, breathe ilo, Zizoo, ToolSense

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Events 1 day ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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