Let’s celebrate Demo Day #24

10 early-stage tech startups, one stage, a full room of investors, experts, and partners… …and an evening that showed exactly why Europe needs more ideas leaving the lab and becoming real companies.

Because let’s be honest:

If we want research in Austria and Europe to translate into global impact, growth, and jobs, we must make the path from science to scalable business faster, clearer, and more attractive.

At Demo Day #24 we saw what that looks like in practice.

Over three months in the INiTS SCALEup incubation program, these founders moved from early prototypes and scientific insights to validated business models, industry contacts, and investor-ready pitches.

Their progress is a reminder that when the right support, expertise, and network come together, ideas accelerate.

Special congratulations go to Samuel Krempus and his startup Audinom. He richly deserved the jury prize donated by invest.austria.

A huge thank you to our jury for constructive feedback throughout the evening:

Beatrix Kemfelja, Susanne Supper, Niki Futter, Peter Nussbaumer and Philipp Kranewitter.

And a heartfelt shout-out to the people who make this possible day after day:

Brigitte Pfisterer, Andreas Gschöpf, Markus Pietzka, Michael Buchecker, Marc Zeiler, and the entire INiTS team! Your work with the founders is what brings these ideas to life.

Thank you to Michael Hähnle for joining us on stage and sharing your insights on innovation in Europe and Rise Europe.

And thank you to Karl Kugler for sharing insights into the European Innovation AI Factory Austria (AI:AT).

To our founders:

Anna Stubrova, Krishnaraj N, Ivana Vyrva, Sævar Einarsson, Saeid Saeidi Aminabadi, Niklas Reisz, Golsa Ghiaasi, Martin Buessler, Samuel K., and Constantin Bourdeaux

You showed what determination, expertise, and the courage to build can achieve in a very short time.

You are the reason we believe that Austria can – and must – play a stronger role in turning science into scalable business.

But this is also a collective task.

Universities, policymakers, investors, industry partners, and incubators all have a responsibility to simplify spin-off processes, strengthen early financing, and encourage researchers to become founders.

Only then will innovations born in Austrian labs become companies that grow from Vienna into the world.

Demo Day #24 was not just a celebration of progress. It was a glimpse of what is possible when we work together to make the journey from research to startup a real, repeatable path.