Central Europe's Biggest Startup Fest Only Weeks Away

The international orientation is reflected by last year's success, with over 10,000 participants from 67 countries visiting 60 events around Vienna. This year, organizers are looking forward to a nine-day experience emerging out of the cooperation with 30+ program partners, resulting in 50+ opportunities to network, pitch, invest, develop, and hack the code.

The ViennaUP’23 offers a program focused on six main topics, intended for participants who want to:

•     Invest brilliantly : Events for those looking for brilliant startup ideas, valuable personal connections, incredible teams, and promising opportunities.
•     Find investors: Pitch your big idea, network with investors, and hear from entrepreneurs and experts from super-successful enterprises.
•     Skill up and scale up: Workshops and coaching for founders and innovators who want to learn in order to grow.
•     Discover new tech: If tech gets you fired up, consider these events and explore what local and international innovators have been up to within the last year.
•     Impact the future: This is all about people, the planet, and profit. Meet and exchange with other purpose-driven startups and investors.  
•     Experience culture and technology: These events are all about the interplay of arts, digital tech, and business. 

Make an Impact Today - and Tomorrow

Vienna is home to countless startups in the impact area, which are working hard on solutions that deliver for people, the planet, and sustainable profit. As a city, Vienna plans to reach climate neutrality by 2040 – and its Smart (Climate) City Strategy demonstrates the city’s social, human approach. Get to know the key players, meet investors and discover exciting new innovations at the events that are part of the “Impact the Future” track. This is a colorful bouquet of over 20 dedicated impact gatherings, workshops, and conferences that will take place at breathtaking locations throughout the city, so there are opportunities for both experienced professionals and rooky planet-protectors. 

The Austrian Capital – A Hotspot for Female-led Businesses

Vienna is known for its gendered street design and proactive approach to equality. For startups, there is a wide service package tailored just for women, reflected in mentoring, networking and coaching opportunities. Some highlights of this year’s ViennaUP are events including the “Women Startup Competition Global Alumni Get Together”, which will unite female power from 17 countries and has, through their nine years of existence, already birthed 620+ mentored women entrepreneurs. And because companies with diverse leadership perform better, there will be an opportunity to “Find your Female Co-Founder” where startups and leaders can pitch. Gender equality is, of course, a fundamental approach in all events.

An Immersive Experience of Art and Technology

Vienna is the meeting point for art and industry, visible in the many creative businesses established each year. From the analog revolutionaries at Supersense to the artist collective room69, which mediates contemporary intermedia formats through astonishing exhibitions, Vienna’s artists, gallerists, curators, and designers have always mixed traditional approaches with avant-garde technology.

Culture and technology are – naturally – a central theme at ViennaUP. Taking place from May 30 through June 7, the 2023 festival edition features a program track that celebrates creativity and business. Startups at the CultTech Accelerator Demo Day will demonstrate their work, and inventors at the Maker Faire Vienna offer an interactive format from high-tech hobbyists, tinkerers and inventors. The Creative Days by the Vienna Business Agency are a program highlight, a two-day networking and inspiration opportunity bringing together leaders and newcomers from architecture, design, film, gaming, fashion, music, and the visual arts. Lastly, The Future Ball takes a classic Viennese format (waltz, anyone?) and flips it, with a holographic-metallic dress code and immersive art exhibitions across the futuristic space.

How to Attend and What to Expect

Check out the program at viennaup.com, use the filters, and click on tantalizing events for more information or to buy tickets. Entry to the majority of festival events requires a cost-free registration, while other highlights offer paid tickets in return for exclusive access to just the right networks. In both cases, tickets go quickly!

Besides the vast array of events that are part of the regular program, with workshops, fairs, pitching sessions, and B2B opportunities, the "ViennaUP Homebase" at the city center (Karlsplatz) is the a central meeting spot each evening for any and all festival participants. Participants can meet up and sample local food, drinks, music and Vienna vibes while getting to know new people from across the international startup ecosystem.

The ViennaUP Café Spaces – in cooperation with four historic and fashionable Viennese cafes – allow participants to enjoy free coffee and WiFi at the city’s original co-working spaces, seven days a week. And for startups hoping to pick the brains of experts, investors, and serial entrepreneurs in a relaxed atmosphere, the ViennaUP Coffee House Sessions are a must-do experience. 

ViennaUP is your adventure. Experience it today!

More information is available at www.viennaup.com