New alliance for research-based spin-offs: Renowned research institutions join forces

“Science-based spin-offs are a key driver of Europe’s innovative strength and technological sovereignty. With the Academic Spin-out Alliance, we are pooling our expertise in a targeted manner for the first time to offer researchers better conditions for successful start-ups, faster technology transfer and international scaling,” the Alliance states. 

Significant progress and even greater potential

The importance of academic spin-offs has grown significantly in recent years: whilst in 2018 around 12% of all start-ups emerged from universities or research institutions, this figure now stands at around 23%, according to the Austrian Start-up Monitor 2025. 

These figures make it clear: the scientific potential exists, but is not yet being sufficiently translated into scalable innovation. New structures for more start-upsThis is precisely where the new alliance comes in. The aim is to significantly simplify and accelerate the path from research to start-up. 

Plans include:

• joint spin-off and incubation programmes
• Cross-institutional co-founder matching formats
• Initiatives to accelerate technology transfer and commercialisation

From Lab to Leader: Building Science Ventures that Last

A first visible sign of the new cooperation was the joint event “Lab to Leader: Building Science Ventures That Last”, which took place on 20 May as part of the Vienna Business Agency as part of Vienna UP 2026, with over 150 guests in attendance. The event was organised jointly by the partner institutions to bring together academic
spin-offs with potential co-founders, investors and international experts. Further initiatives and specific offerings for founders will be rolled out gradually over the coming months.