Summary & Key Findings
In 2022 the Austrian AI ecosystem developing at a steady pace with some important key trends emerging:
Category growth & diversification
The more important story of 2022 was the maturing of existing categories such a privacy or GreenTech/CleanTech into areas with significant startup activity. Part of the reason for this growth were specific funding instruments such AI for Green and Trustworthy AI, which paved the way for a new wave of founders.
Early adopters & Corporate Startups
Corporations significantly expanded their activities in the AI space. This materializes in form of dedicated AI teams, start-up collaborations, spinouts and increased M&A activity. At the same time the public sector is very active and positions itself as the first customer for AI-based solutions. This makes Austria a very attractive location for international startups in this area.
Austria as destination for international founders
In previous years we pointed out that Austrian talent gradually moved into the spotlight of Silicon Valley tech companies, resulting in local AI operations of Amazon, Meta (Facebook) and Snap. AI Hubs opened during this first wave were mostly focused on doing AI research in Austria, utilizing local talent, with limited interaction with the local community.
In the last 12 months this movement gained steam and saw the opening of AI Centers of Excellence, European headquarters of AI companies up to international startups which chose Austria as the place to incorporate their business.
Cut-off date for v6.0 was 14.12.2022.
In accordance with reactions to past releases, we expect a v7.0 in Q4 2023, based on the feedback we receive.
