Austria is home to a thriving economy, boasting a notoriously high standard of living, well-developed infrastructure and a strong emphasis on technology and innovation.
Furthermore, the country has become best known for its industrial and engineering strengths, especially in machinery, automotive and environmental technology, given Austria’s level of development.
On top of that, however, Austria has become a dynamic hub for tech-driven startups in recent years. Part of this is due to its ideal central location in Europe as well as its highly skilled workforce and supportive business environment.
The Startup Environment in Austria
Vienna, the capital of Austria, has become the focal point of the country’s entrepreneurial activity.
Attracting a massive amount of local talent and international investment to, Austria has implemented policies and incentives to encourage growth in startups. This included efforts like implementing favourable tax regulations, accelerator initiatives and funding programmes.
The result of this is that Austria has seen a significant rise in the number of successful startups that have emerged, with a handful of unicorns popping up in education technology, fintech and automotive safety solutions, among other industries.
Of course, unicorns aren’t the only way to determine a country’s economic success, but they certainly do highlight Austria’s potential as an innovation hub.
Top 5 Unicorns in Austria
While several Austrian companies have gained unicorn status over the years, many have since either decreased in valuation or shifted into public ownership.
Thus, as of November 2024, five companies in Austria are officially considered unicorns.
1. Bitpanda: $4.1 Billion
Founded in 2014, Bitpanda is the developer of a digital investment platform. Designed to facilitate the buying and selling of stocks, commodities and cryptocurrencies, the company’s platform and offers efficient and extended services.
Users of Bitpanda can use the platform to quickly and easily buy, sell, swap and send digital assets by means of a diverse set of payment and payout options. It also allows people to use debit cards to spend investments like cash. Ultimately, this makes investing and trading in digital assets easier than ever before.
2. Tricentis: $4 Billion
Tricentis is a software testing tool that is intended to help accelerate business software delivery and top-quality engineering.
Founded in 2007, the company makes use of a model-based automation system along with a case design approach that involves risk-based testing, provisioning, data management and service visualisation.
All in all, these services allow developers and IT businesses to perform far better than ever for on the projects on which they’re working.
3. Go Student: $3 Billion
With about 2,500 employees, Go Student was founded in 2016 and has about 22 different investors to date. The company is the developer of an online learning application that connects students and teachers all around the world for the purpose of tutoring sessions.
These sessions are both for individuals and groups, making use of artificial intelligence to support the selection of tutors as well as the onboarding process. Students have access to a free social homework chat too, along with a range of different tutoring subscription packages to help them deal with homework in an easy and safe environment.
4. Copa Data: $1 Billion
Now worth $1 billion, earning it unicorn status, Copa Data is a software development company that was founded in Salzburg, Austria in 1987.
The software is intended for industrial and energy automation, specialising particularly in energy data management, machine building, automated engineering as well as other related services too. These services enable companies to implement digitisation strategies.
5. TTTech Auto: $1 Billion
TTTech Auto is the developer of a billion-dollar safety software platform that allows for real-time control applications that make automated and fully self-driving cars.
Launched back in 1998, TTTechAuto also focuses on the integration of services for the technical challenges that often come with the complexities involved in vehicles and electronic systems. This allows for car manufacturers to achieve portability, standardized interfaces and modularity.
