Austrian Startup Monitor 2025 (AIT / AustrianStartups / WU)

Summary

• The report is based on a survey of 635 founders and managing directors plus data on all startups recorded in Austria since 2014.p.12
• More than 3,600 startups have been founded in Austria since 2014, but annual formation numbers have stagnated since the boom through 2019.p.12
• The share of women among all founders dipped by one percentage point to 21%, and mixed founding teams are now at 24%.p.12
• 54% of startups have raised external equity, as have 91% of scaleups.p.11
• 42% of revenue is generated abroad, the highest value since the start of the surveys.p.11
• 71% of startups develop key technologies.p.11
• The share of startups valued at over 5 million euros bounced back from 37% to 49%.p.12

Key insights

1. 17% of founders are from abroad, rising to 34% among research-based spin-offs.p.12
2. Around 27% of founders are under 25 at the time they found their first company.p.12
3. 62% of newly founded startups are green or social startups.p.12
4. Around 13% of startups qualify as scaleups.p.12
5. The share of academic spin-offs has risen steadily and is now 23%.p.11
6. The average number of employees is 11.4, and 73% of startups plan to hire next year.p.11
7. Around 80% of surveyed startups want to expand into new international markets next year.p.11
8. 70% use AI in product development.p.11