Upper Austrian start-ups continue to grow

tech2b - Pioneer. For pioneers

tech2b supports start-ups in Upper Austria with expertise, capital and contacts to develop business models and products from ideas. In addition, tech2b helps start-ups to launch their products on the market themselves or in cooperation with the state's leading companies and to grow quickly.

"New business models, products and services strengthen the innovative power of Upper Austria as a business location and take the local economy one step further forward. Our incubator tech2b has been successfully supporting start-ups for 20 years in advancing and realizing their ideas, while at the same time offering them support and space to develop. tech2b thus makes an important contribution to strengthening Upper Austria as an innovation hotspot and thus making Upper Austria even more competitive as a business location," emphasizes Markus Achleitner, Provincial Councillor for Economic Affairs.

"Our comprehensive range of programs enables teams to receive professional support in all start-up phases. From the early phase to market growth, our team of experts is ideally positioned across all sectors," explains tech2b Managing Director Raphael Friedl.

Since 2002, tech2b has supported more than 450 start-ups, such as Bistrobox, GENSPEED, MoxVR. Presono, RudyGames, Runtastic, smec, Storyblok, tractive and Xaleon. In addition to the two-phase start-up program, there is also a special focus program for MedTech and hardware start-ups. Since last year, tech2b has also been supporting start-ups in the tourism industry in collaboration with the Upper Austrian business location agency Business Upper Austria and Upper Austria Tourism. The incubator also offers the Business2Excellence program. By joining this program, start-ups are provided with advice and networks that support them in their growth and expansion phases. Since 2017, tech2b has also been linking national and international start-ups with leading Upper Austrian companies as part of the PIER 4 initiative.

- New early support program "Ideate":
"In order to pick up potential founders in the early idea phase and to accompany and coach them at an early stage so that more ideas are also pursued and implemented, the new early support program "Ideate" was launched on 1.10.2021," emphasizes Provincial Councillor Achleitner. An important aspect of the program is networking with each other and with more experienced entrepreneurs and experts. So far, there are 14 teams in the "Ideate" program and each project receives low-threshold advice and support for 6 months.

- New focus on start-ups with sustainable products:
"Greening brings great opportunities for Upper Austria's economy in particular, which is why tech2b will place a special focus on start-ups with climate and environmentally relevant products in future. There will be a separate program for these start-ups similar to the successful MedTech focus," announced Markus Achleitner, Upper Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs.

As representatives of these 37 start-ups, two are brought before the curtain - MatheArena GmbH from Hohenzell and compunity GmbH from Linz:

"The start-up phase was a very challenging time for us, during which the tech2b team provided us with competent support and successfully dispelled all our fears through countless information, contacts and training courses, which is why we are now proud founders of MatheArena GmbH," says MatheArena founder Eva-Maria Infanger. The "MatheArena" app brings learners closer to mathematics in a mobile and flexible way. With a level of difficulty that automatically adapts to the user, mathematical topics can be practiced based on the latest e-learning findings

"Innovation needs someone who believes in it! - and we found that in tech2b. Of course, we benefited from tech2b/PIER 4's extensive company network. But we were also able to fully rely on the support of the tech2b team. Whether it was tricky financial issues, new marketing strategies or simply a lack of copy paper, a solution could be found for everything," says compunity Managing Director Florian Krenn. The company has developed a software solution that ensures that companies have data available at the right time and in the right format.

tech2b turns ideas into companies. And familiarizes companies with ideas.
"All areas and disciplines of the business adventure are represented in our well-coordinated team. From controlling and employment law to marketing. Together, we are there for start-ups, spin-offs and companies in our country that enter into innovation partnerships with start-ups. We make our contacts, skills and experience accessible and usable for all of them. As we are one of the veterans of the Austrian start-up scene with almost 20 years of experience, we have built up a large network that founders can draw on," says Managing Director Friedl.

The advantages of tech2b are:
- All relevant universities & R&D institutions as shareholders
- Embedding in the regional NPO network for start-ups hub,ert
- A consistent program offer from the idea to the growth phase
- Fully digital submission process
- Largest industry network of all centers, open to all AplusB start-ups
- Cooperation with leading organizations in the focus areas (FemaleFounders, ClimAccelerator, Terra Institute, MTC...)

All winners at a glance:

37 start-up projects that have successfully completed the tech2b program are being honored today. tech2b and the province of Upper Austria want to highlight the importance not only of start-up support, but above all of start-ups and their innovative ideas. Here is a selection:

compunity GmbH (Linz)
Companies are struggling with above-average IT capacity utilization. Projects and innovation measures are often not implemented or only implemented with a delay because the IT departments have no free resources available. In our previous projects, we have noticed that in addition to the actual solution finding, more and more resources have to be used to have the data available in the right format at the right time. We have therefore built a software solution that uses low-coding to implement data flows in distributed IT systems. With our Enterprise Choreographer, we reduce the effort required for interface development and the implementation of data flows.

"Developers and departmental experts should focus on solving the real problems and we make sure that the data is available at the right time and in the right format," says Managing Director Florian Krenn.

MatheArena GmbH (Hohenzell)
The "MatheArena" app brings learners closer to mathematics in a mobile and flexible way. With a level of difficulty that automatically adapts to the user, the mathematical topics can be trained in a playful, motivating and fearless way in the form of MC questions and mini-games, based on the latest findings on e-learning. The focus is therefore directly on the needs of the learners in order to reduce inhibitions, fears and stress factors as much as possible.

"In the medium and long term, MatheArena is set to become an international duel app that will give learning mathematics a new twist as a digital trainer, make differentiated learning possible for each individual and at the same time bring together learners from all over the world," says founder Eva-Maria Infanger.

Akriva - Adliance GmbH (Linz)
Healthcare software is subject to the same strict legal requirements as classic medical devices. Adliance takes over the guideline-compliant development of software that must be classified as a medical device. In addition to industry-specific programming, Adliance also has experience of all relevant standards and guidelines and provides support in areas such as risk and quality management and validation. The product "Akriva" is the result of this work and the specific needs of customers.

"Akriva automates the time-consuming and cost-intensive screening for (online) communication channels required by strict pharmacovigilance guidelines for pharmaceutical companies. This includes the timely processing of adverse reaction reports, documentation and reporting for audits and authorities," says founder Gerhard Feilmayr

Balcosy (Linz)
Flowfactory GmbH. wants to bring multifunctional pieces of furniture for the optimal and intelligent use of living space onto the market.

"The first of our products is the Balcosy® folding balcony, which serves as a multifunctional table or shelf when suspended inside and uses the window recess as a small balcony alternative when folded up to enable comfortable and safe sitting in the window," explains founder Florian Holzmayer.

Bioresorbable Screw (Linz)
The Bioresorbable Screw project describes a new type of treatment in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMF). With a completely new bioresorbable alloy that is on a par with the properties of medical titanium, it is possible to make treatments in the field of maxillofacial surgery more efficient and more comfortable for the patient. The aim of Bioresorbable Screw is to replace today's established titanium products, which are necessary for osteosynthesis in the maxillofacial region, with products made of bioresorbable and biocompatible magnesium in order to avoid a second surgical procedure and allow the wound to heal in an ideal way.

For example, cavity formation due to the removal of the titanium screw, which carries the risk of a new fracture, can be avoided as the bone build-up is accompanied by the removal of the magnesium screw. The magnesium alloy is replaced by bone substances in a natural way.

"We at Bioresorbable Screw are convinced that bioresorbable and biocompatible magnesium alloys are the future in the field of osteosynthesis. On the one hand, because a second operation under general anesthesia can be avoided, thereby greatly reducing the risk of infection and enabling natural wound healing and, from a financial point of view, saving high treatment costs," says the Bioresorbable Screw team."

Blue Monday Project (Linz)
The project is a platform/application on which the user can inform himself about sustainable products and is brought closer to the world of sustainability.

"A stored bonus program provides gamification and offers the user an incentive to consume sustainably. Partner companies receive data analyses and can therefore see into the future generation. Product range optimization and purchase forecasts are made possible," says founder Dennis Platzl.

Booxit (Thalheim near Wels)
The reusable container technology, which is protected by several patents, solves the two basic problems of reusable containers in parcel logistics and thus points the way to the Physical Internet. Research and development partners such as FRAUNHOFER and the FH Vienna see this as a breakthrough in more than 25 years of worldwide research on this topic.
The BOOXit reusable box technology, a start-up of the Linz universities, is intended to replace a large proportion of cardboard boxes in parcel logistics with more sustainable reusable boxes in the future, thereby saving enormous amounts of CO2. Thanks to digitalization, automation and robotics, the BOOXit technology is even associated with cost savings of around 30% for shippers and logistics companies.

Thanks to the cooperation with the enormous plastics, digitalization and logistics expertise in Upper Austria, such as GREINER, HAIDLMAIR, KEBA and TGW, the startup from Fischlham has already won its first pilot projects with well-known national and international companies in pharmaceutical logistics and parcel logistics.

Founders Peter Entenfellner and Andreas Holzleithner believe the time has come for technology: "Price increases for cardboard due to expensive wood and gas as well as the enormous growth in parcel volumes due to the online boom are causing problems for parcel service providers - we have the answer to these problems with BOOXit. At the moment, we are still alone worldwide with our technology, but there will be imitators, so we need to be quick!". Several technology grants from the state of Upper Austria have already helped to increase the pace of the complex development work, and there is already interest from investors at home and abroad.

Porridge food brought into shape - Taste Elements GmbH (Engerwitzdorf)
Tasteelements GmbH wants to make it possible for people with chewing and swallowing difficulties to have tasty and visually appealing meals available every day.

"We were the first product line in this segment to successfully launch our BESO Meal "Bread and Cake Experiences" on the Austrian target market. Our products are currently available directly as well as via wholesalers for hospitals, nursing homes and retirement homes. This year, we will be working with another partner to expand this area to include some main course components and also make them available to private customers," says CO-Founder Gerhart Stadlbauer

Celantur (Linz)
Celantur develops technology for the automatic pixelation (data anonymization) of images and videos.

"We enable companies and organizations to process and store images and video in compliance with GDPR. Our technology is based on deep learning methods and a scalable cloud architecture, so that

cortEXplore (Linz)
cortEXplore GmbH develops technologies to precisely plan, simulate and perform surgical procedures on the brain. The company currently offers solutions for neuroscientific research. In the future, the systems will be used for medical applications.

"Our mission is to offer solutions for the research and medical treatment of the brain. Top international universities are already using the system today, underlining the importance and need for our technologies," says Managing Director Stefan Schaffelhofer.

DigiThy (Schalchen)
Our healthcare systems will face major challenges in the future. These relate to increasingly complex treatments, an ageing society and growing patient demands, such as the desire for clearly measurable, individually tailored and therefore comprehensible treatments. Above all, these challenges lead to enormous time pressure on medical professionals. The high workload not only affects the medical profession, but is also felt by patients. For example, every second patient in Germany has the feeling that the doctor's consultation is neglected. This problem is particularly acute in the case of chronic illnesses. On the one hand, regular appointments take up considerable resources in the healthcare system and, on the other hand, patients have a considerable amount of suffering. In this area of conflict between the severely limited time resources of the medical profession and high patient demands, computer-aided procedures can make a significant contribution to the quality of treatment.

Our aim is to transfer proven methods from the fields of control systems and machine learning to the medical sector in order to enable individualized dosing procedures for chronic metabolic diseases. Using our methods for calculating dosage, treatments can also be brought closer to the patient. This makes it possible to transform "simple" point-of-care devices into "digital assistants". These can be used at home to monitor the course of the disease and adapt medications to the patient.

"Personally, the industry-specific start-up offer from tech2b and the medical technology cluster has helped me enormously with regard to MedTech. In medical technology, complex technical developments with very high investment costs usually come up against major regulatory difficulties. Start-ups with additional hurdles, so to speak. Thanks to my participation in the Pre-Scale-up MedTech program, I was able to draw on enormous expert knowledge. In addition to classic start-up assistance, such as business plan consulting, you also receive very specific support. Among other things, the existing expert knowledge regarding regulatory aspects of medical device certification is worth its weight in gold. In addition, tech2b and the medical technology cluster have an extremely good network of industry experts in medical technology. Such qualitative and comprehensive input is actually priceless and has been extremely helpful to me as a technical career changer in this field. What I am most pleased about is that I have learned a great deal thanks to the good feedback and, above all, have received valuable and important input from Know How Träger," says founder Thomas Benninger.