The shared vision includes connecting entrepreneurs with potential investors in order to fully utilize and foster the start-up potential of spin-off and start-up companies. The goal is to encourage “business angels” to invest at an early stage.

Ongoing educational and research activities at Upper Austria's two largest institutions of education and research, the JKU and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, have resulted in successfully growing intellectual property pools (such as patents, trademarks, etc.). By creating AcadX, the two institutions will combine their strengths and expertise to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer from academia to real-world applications, benefitting start-up companies, potential investors, and ultimately the entire region as a location of business.

Markus Achleitner (State Minister for Economic Affairs and Research) commented on establishing the AcadX Association: “One of the key factors to support a successful business location is how quickly research findings can be made available to companies This is why we here in Upper Austria are particularly interested in creating close ties between academia and the business community, particularly to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit at our universities and at our universities of applied sciences. Forming the AcadX association is an important business initiative in Upper Austria. On one hand, the Johannes Kepler University Linz and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria are actively involved in networking, pooling their strengths and expertise to bring their research innovations to the market faster and more effectively. At the same time, Upper Austria's comprehensive support program for start-up companies is being reinforced and even more researchers are aiming to become entrepreneurs. A thriving business region lives off strong ideas. AcadX will help bring these ideas from the university and universities of applied sciences find their way into the economy in the form of innovative products, services, and business models.”

JKU Rector Stefan Koch elaborates: “The JKU has a responsibility to society to share research findings and discoveries with the public. We can only accomplish our goals by creating a start-up friendly university. Start-up and spin-off companies can continue to work on innovative discoveries, eventually introducing them to the market. The last stages of development in particular are difficult to carry out at a university, which is why start-up companies contribute significantly to transferring knowledge from research to real-world practices.”

The JKU has been facilitating the transition by creating countless opportunities for those in academia/research to interact with business professionals. The LIT Open Innovation Center, for example, is a unique space where science, academia, and business come together under one roof to create an inspirational networking platform, particularly for entrepreneurs, start-up companies, and spin-offs. As part of its efforts to support start-up companies, the JKU is also part of a start-up contact point, hub,ert, and the JKU Institute for Entrepreneurship provides support services to those interested in starting their own business. The institute is also involved in organizing the annual Founders.Week, where students spend an intensive week learning what it takes to start a business and turning their innovative ideas into a business model. Founders.Week has already given rise to several successful start- up companies.

Michael Rabl, head of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, stresses the importance of providing long-term start-up support: “For over 15 years now, the University of Applied Sciences’ Start-Up Center has been setting a course to help young Upper Austrian companies grow. The successful results speak for themselves: our mentoring and support have resulted in many start-up companies that are now setting national and international standards!”

The University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria has four locations that not only offer entrepreneurs mentoring and networking opportunities, but also three state-of-the-art co-working spaces to facilitate cross-disciplinary interaction and create an innovatively dynamic environment. In addition to these important resources, there are a variety of regularly scheduled lectures, seminars, and application-oriented workshops, as well as an in-house podcast, “Wannabe a Founder”, and the “Wannabe a Founder Master Class”, a nine-day bootcamp for entrepreneurs who want deep dive into the subject. Using social media, the Start-up Center is also breaking new, creative ground by launching its TikTok channel, “Founder Buddies”, designed to digitally share information and attract young entrepreneurs.

Closing the funding gap early
The University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and the JKU want to expand their services and utilize the new AcadX Association to support young entrepreneurs (beginning with the idea phase, all the way to creating a business) by introducing them to important consultants and mentors, such as Tech2b Inkubator Ltd. There is also a strong focus on reaching out to so-called “business angels”, meaning private individuals or institutions interested in providing start-up companies with financial support. The idea is to introduce them to innovators in science and academia at an early stage, particularly those who are interested in creating a company, and close a financing gap during the start-up/spin-off’s early phase.

Gerold Weisz, head of the FH Upper Austria Start-Up Center, points out just how important new, innovative companies are for both institutions and Upper Austria’s business landscape: “Today's entrepreneurs and start-ups are our economic muscle and will create the jobs of tomorrow. AcadX will take us one step further by bridging the current funding gap, particularly with ‘business angels’, opening the door to create interdisciplinary and cross-university start-up teams.”

Christiane Tusek, JKU Vice-Rector for Finance and Entrepreneurship, elaborates on the mutual vision: “The JKU and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria intend to use AcadX to actively support the future of business in Upper Austria. Our mission is to bring motivated students and researchers together with potential investors. There are so many brilliant and innovative ideas and we want to create an environment where these ideas can come to fruition.”

Bernhard Lehner, co-founder of factory300 in the Tabakfabrik - and a ‘business angel’ himself - is pleased that the JKU and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria have joined forces to support these goals: “Compared to other countries, we have some catching up to do when it comes to the number of academic spin-off companies. This joint initiative between Upper Austria's largest educational institutions sends a strong message to students to be bolder and regard entrepreneurship as a tremendous opportunity; and it sends a message to potential ‘business angels’ to apply their experience, business contacts, and capital to support our state’s entrepreneurial future.”

Managing Director Rabl (University of Applied Sciences of Upper Austria) and Rector Koch (JKU) concluded by saying: “AcadX has been created to generate momentum for start-up companies and drive innovation in Upper Austria forward, as well as continually strengthen Upper Austria as a location of business. After all, when it comes to our region’s potential prospects, future viability, and level of competitiveness, we believe that supporting our start-ups' innovative strength will be a decisive success factor.”

Click here, opens an external URL in a new window to watch a video about AcadX., opens an external URL in a new window