WU Vienna University of Economics and Business is launching WU Ignite Ventures, its own venture capital fund, which sets out to help new university start-ups get off to a successful start. WU wants to provide start-up teams not only with valuable expertise but also with the capital they need to get going.

Particularly in the early stages of launching a new business, many start-up teams lack the resources needed to turn promising ideas into market-ready products. This is exactly where WU Vienna’s new initiative comes in: Six to eight WU-affiliated start-up teams will be granted up to €50,000 of annual funding provided by the WU Foundation. Funding will only be awarded to start-up teams who have a connection to WU.

Nurturing a spirit of innovation in Austria

WU wants to strengthen entrepreneurship in academia and contribute to the overall innovative power of Austria as a country. “With WU Ignite Ventures, we’re creating the structures needed to achieve this goal, and we’re nurturing the entrepreneurial potential that exists at our university,” says Rector Rupert Sausgruber, emphasizing the project’s strategic value. Cattina Leitner, chair of the University Board, stresses the important momentum that the initiative aims to provide. She says, “It’s essential that universities such as WU not only impart knowledge but also play an active role in helping to put innovative ideas into practice.”

Funding and custom-tailored support

The venture capital investments are made based on a contract model specifically tailored to the needs of young start-ups. Apart from the financial support provided, the start-up founders also benefit from targeted coaching services and access to a network of entrepreneurs, investors, and potential customers. The WU Entrepreneurship Center, which has been promoting entrepreneurial and innovative thinking among WU students for almost ten years now, plays a leading role in this connection. Rudolf Dömötör, director of the Entrepreneurship Center, points out, “As the name suggests, WU Ignite Ventures aims to kindle the spark of entrepreneurship in our students and alumni. With this initiative, we want to help fledgling entrepreneurs turn a validated idea into a viable business.”

University start-ups are on the rise

The Austrian Startup Monitor 2024 survey shows that there is strong demand for this type of support: 23% of Austria’s newly founded start-ups are born in higher education settings – and this figure continues to grow. WU Ignite Ventures aims to propel this trend further and raise WU’s profile as a key driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. At the same time, the initiative consolidates WU’s role as one of Europe’s leading start-up hubs, which was again confirmed by a recent Financial Times ranking. As a logical extension of WU’s existing activities, WU Ignite Ventures will complement formats such as Entrepreneurship Avenue, WU’s entrepreneurship-oriented degree programs, and the Changemaker Program, which won the MEGA Bildungsstiftung’s economic literacy award. WU also plans to roll out additional formats, including a cross-university co-founder matching program under the umbrella of the ECN (Entrepreneurship Center Network), and it is also working to step up its involvement in national initiatives such as Spin-Off Austria. WU’s new start-up investment strategy has also won recognition from the aws Spin-off Initiative, which has awarded seed funding for the establishment of professional spin-out structures to a total of six universities, including WU Vienna.